Nine Tails Incarnate
by NineTailsIncarnate
Summary: Following the Nine Tails Attack, Minato Namikaze seals all the Nine Tails' into his son while removing its soul. With Naruto's own soul now at the core of the Nine Tails' power, the world will bear witness to the birth of a new Nine Tailed Fox! Watch as Naruto and his fellow Hidden Leaf Ninja grow and fight to forever change the world of the Shinobi!
1. Prologue: Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTES:**

Hi all and welcome to my first story, Nine Tails Incarnate! I'm writing this note to make a few things clear, since I didn't want to overload the Summary with all this stuff.

Firstly, Pairings.

This IS a Harem Story, with both Naruto and Sasuke having a harem of five partners Via the Fanon Favourite; The CRA. The Partners they will have will be decided by votes via Reviews and PM's. The first partner for each of them has already been decided; Naruto with Hinata and Sasuke with Sakura, like in Canon (though their relationships will be different due to the way this story will go). You can also vote on the relationships of characters other than Naruto and Sasuke, such as Shikamaru or Choji.

Second, Bashing.

Now, I love almost all the Characters in Naruto, even a lot of the less popular ones like Danzo, so a lot of the bashing will be either temporary or of characters that aren't canon, like the Civilian Council or my own OC's. The Bashed Characters are:

1\. Sasuke (This will end once he and Naruto get to know each other)

2\. Sakura (she'll be redeemed not long into the story)

3\. Danzo (this will be a bit different, as you will see)

4\. The Hyuga Clan (excluding Hiashi, Hinata and Hanabi. Neji will be redeemed later)

5\. The Uchiha Clan (excluding Itachi and Mikoto)

Any other bashed characters would be too spoiler-y so you'll have to wait and see!

Third, Language

As an English Speaker, I will primarily be writing the names of Jutsu and locations in English. I will however be using honorifics.

Lastly, Reviews.

As an aspiring author, I hope some of you will take the time to leave reviews! I appreciate them all and will respond to every one of them. Praise and Constructive Criticism are very welcome and for those few who feel like leaving flames, I won't bother reading them so I wouldn't waste your time.

Any way, Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 00: PROLOGUE**

 **CHAPTER 1: THE BIRTH OF NARUTO, THE SECOND KYUBI!**

 **XOXOXOX**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, sat behind his desk with tears in his eyes and a dull pain in his chest. Before him were the reports of the last night's events and the source of so much heartache, both for him and his village. In his lap was a baby wrapped up like a bundle of cloth, which had become the victim of so much hate and fear, despite it only taking it's first breath less than twelve hours ago. Looking down at the sleeping infant, Hiruzen took in its small features; features which were not of a human baby, but a newborn fox kit. The Kit mewled in its sleep and one of its nine, small golden tails wrapped itself around the old man's hand. Sarutobi sighed and thought back to how this had all begun…

 **(Outside the Hidden Leaf Village, eight hours earlier)**

The Ninja of the Hidden Leaf were stood anxiously on the rooftops of the village, some panting, others wounded as they looked to the outskirts of the village, where just moments ago, their Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze had warped away the mighty scourge of nature that had nearly laid waste to their homes.

The Nine Tailed Fox.

Even now, surrounded by his elite ANBU Guard, Hiruzen could hear the footfalls of the now distant beast and could feel the mighty gales created by its swaying tails. The Fox had appeared out of nowhere in the dead of night, right in the centre of the village. The only warning had been a sudden explosion of its chakra, which Hiruzen knew was it breaking from its Jinchuriki; Kushina Uzumaki. Mere moments after they had sensed the chakra, the beast had arrived in a great plume of smoke and began mindlessly destroying the village.

The village had quickly mobilised its forces against the beast while hurrying the civilians and the younger ninja out of danger as quickly as possible. The attack lasted for two hours and then, to the shock of all those watching, the Fox seemed to shudder, blink, and then turn docile. It ceased its attacks and did nothing but use its tails to protect itself from those Ninja that was still attacking it. For a moment before Minato appeared and warped the beast away, it met Hiruzen's eyes and reflected the same feeling the old Hokage had; Confusion.

"Hokage-Sama!" came the voice of one of the ANBU, shaking the aging Sarutobi from his thoughts. "Yondaime-Sama has driven the fox from the village. What are your orders?"

"Four of you will come with me to aid Yondaime-Sama. The rest of you will begin search and rescue in the most badly hit parts of the village." Hiruzen ordered.

"Yes sir!" they all shouted as the Sandaime ran off to where the Kyubi had been taken. After running through the forest for a couple of miles, Hiruzen and his ANBU stopped and bore witness to a sight that both amazed them, and chilled them to the bone. A Red haired woman; Kushina Uzumaki, was lying beside a strange altar, whispering to a tiny blonde baby that was sleeping on the stone. One one side of this altar was the Nine Tailed Fox, sitting quietly and staring down at the mother and baby with sad eyes. On the other side of the altar, opposite the fox was a familiar blonde in the traditional uniform of a Leaf Jonin, with the addition of a white coat with red flames at the bottom and the words "Fourth Hokage" written on the back. This was Minato Namikaze, and behind him, much to the horror of Hiruzen, was the Shinigami.

"Minato, no! You can't be planning to use the Reaper Death Seal!" Hiruzen yelled, running toward his young successor.

Minato coughed and smiled weakly. "I'm so sorry Sandaime-Sama. This was all I could do; the power of the Nine Tails is too great to the sealed by anything other than an Uzumaki, or the Reaper Death Seal. Kushina is too hurt to cast the seal, so this is the only way. Kurama has already agreed."

"Kurama?" Hiruzen frowned.

"That would be me, human." The Nine Tails bellowed, its voice deep and menacing, yet also remorseful. "I, Kurama of the Tailed Beasts, have agreed to make amends with the Hidden Leaf Village by giving all of my power to the Son of the Hokage and my previous Jinchuriki."

Hiruzen stood stunned, unable to believe this beast that had recently destroyed so many lives was actually trying to make amends. "So, you are going to turn little Naruto into the next Jinchuriki?"

"N-No." Kushina said, using all of her strength to sit up and look at Hiruzen. "Kurama is… he is going to give 100% of his chakra and power to Naruto and then allow his mind and soul to be sealed in Minato… before he..." Kushina broke into fresh tears before she could finish her sentence, but Hiruzen knew what she was going to say.

"You aren't making a true Jinchuriki." Hiruzen said, stunned, "You are creating a Human Tailed Beast!"

"Heh, Kushina and I used to spend hours talking about how we would make a world where the Tailed Beasts could live free. Naruto will prove to the world that our dream was not for nothing. He will be the light to guide the Ninja World. Please, Hiruzen, you will become Hokage again now, so please, protect our son."

Hiruzen restrained his tears and nodded. "I will! I swear it on my name and my Will of Fire! I will protect your son Naruto with my dying breath!"

Minato smiled and clapped his hands together, finishing the Reaper Death Seal. There was a loud roar as the Shinigami sealed Kurama's soul into Minato and then placed all its Chakra into Naruto. The ghostly creature then absorbed Minato's and Kurama's soul and a blinding light enveloped the area. In an instant the altar, the fox and the Death God were all gone, leaving only the bodies of the Namikaze family.

Allowing his tears to flow freely while his ANBU moved to secure Minato and Kushina's bodies, Hiruzen, the now active Hokage, approached the baby still curled in his mothers arms. Hiruzen couldn't suppress his gasp as he saw the boy turned into a Fox Kit with nine golden tails, each as long as his body and a shining gold fur covering the sleeping kit.

That would not be the last shock of the event however.

"Hokage-Sama!" one of his ANBU screamed. "Yondaime-Sama and Kushina-Sama are still alive!"

 **(Hokage's Office; Present Time)**

Following the incident, Hiruzen swore the ANBU to secrecy and had Minato and Kushina moved to a secret medical ward located beneath the Sarutobi Compound. The Hokage had taken Minato's Hokage coat and used it as a wrap for young Naruto and then took him to his office. That has been seven hours ago and the old man had spent the entire time secretly caring the sleeping Naruto and reading the reports of what had happened, including the one that detailed the ANBU sweep of Kushina's birthing chamber and the deaths of all those guarding it as well as the Medics and Hiruzen's Wife Biwako. That had brought a fresh wave of tears to the old man and ever since then, Naruto had periodically wrapped one of his tails around Hiruzen's fingers, as if comforting him, even in the boy's sleep.

But now that the repairs were under way, the injured being treated and the dead being carried to the Hospital Morgue, Hiruzen knew that the council would be forming soon. Normally only the Hokage could call a council meeting, but due to the village still being in a state of emergency, any one on the council could call one, so long as it was related to the emergency. And, as the Third had predicted, a council had been called and would be meeting within the hour. Hiruzen was not looking forward to that…

"This is going to be rough on us both, little one." Hiruzen said, running his hand through the fur between Naruto's long ears. "Don't worry, I will protect you." he added before standing up and heading to the council chambers.

 **(Leaf Council Chamber)**

Hiruzen paused at the Council Chamber door. He had been notified on the way that everyone else was already there, but now that he was standing here, he experienced an unsettling thing. Only quiet talking could be heard from within the chamber. Normally, arguing would be heard as he approached and would immediately cease when he entered, but this time, there was barely a sound to be heard.

With a sigh and a final prayer to whatever gods would listen, Hiruzen nodded to the guards to open the door. Hiruzen swept into the room, Naruto carefully concealed in his father's coat as the Third Hokage took his seat at the head of the room and surveyed the council. The Hidden Leaf Council was split into four smaller sub-councils; The Clan Council consisting of the Heads of every current Hidden Leaf Clan. The Jonin Council, which consisted of three Elite Jonin, five standard Jonin and two Tokubetsu Jonin. The Elder Council, which consisted of the Hokage's Advisors and lastly, the Civilian Council which was made up of prominent business owners, property owners and the heads of various important Civilian organisations.

"Right, as Hokage, I call this meeting of the council open." Hiruzen said. He knew he was in for a long day when that announcement alone brought murmurs to the council.

"Hokage-Sama, If I may ask, where is Yondaime-Sama?" asked Hiashi Hyuga.

"Following his "battle" with the Nine Tailed Fox, Minato Namikaze is currently incapacitated. He performed a normally suicidal jutsu called the Reaper Death Seal, yet he has miraculously survived, though he is comatose. He is receiving treatment at a private facility and I will act as Hokage until he recovers." Hiruzen said, keeping his voice even. Showing emotion here would get him dog-piled by the Elders and Civilians. Just as the council went back to murmuring to itself, a tiny whine, like that of a puppy, echoed through the room. Hiruzen cringed at the normally cute noise. Naruto had woken up and the Hokage had hoped to have calmed the council a bit more before addressing them about the newly created Nine Tails.

"What exactly is in that bundle you have there, Hokage-Sama?" asked a gaunt looking Civilian.

Hiruzen sighed. "This is Naruto Uzumaki. He was recovered from the sight of Minato's battle with the fox. He is the son of Kushina Uzumaki." he said, keeping his relationship to the Fourth a secret for now. Very few knew about Kushina marrying Minato, but among them were the Clan Heads, the Elder Council and a single member of the Jonin Council, one with noticeably silver hair. "His mother was badly hurt aiding the Yondaime and is currently receiving treatment in the same facility. She too is comatose at the moment."

Those who knew of Minato and Kushina's relationship looked wide-eyed at the bundle which contained their son. Almost all of them, minus the elders, had been eager to meet the boy every since they learned of the Pregnancy. "Excuse me Hokage-Sama, but I can smell the kid and I recognise the noise he made. Are you sure that kid is Kushina's?" Tsume Inuzuka asked sceptically. Tsume had been a good friend to Kushina and a member of Team Jiraiya alongside Minato and Hiashi.

The Third Hokage sighed. "I had hoped to ease everyone into this, but with a nose as sharp as yours Tsume, I suppose it was impossible. Yes, this boy, Naruto Uzumaki, is really her son. But due to the battle… Well, it would be best if I just showed you."

Hiruzen carefully untangled the blanket, revealing that it was Minato's Coat, which bothered a few of the Civilians, but everyone forgot about that as it was dropped to the floor and Naruto was revealed. His brilliant Sapphire eyes, opened for the first time were peering at the astonished council. Before them, in all his glory, was a tiny, golden furred Fox Kit with nine long tails.

"No way! Its not Human!?" one Civilian yelled.

"It's the Nine Tails! It's possessed the baby!" another screamed.

"ENOUGH!" Hiruzen roared, silencing the mob before more screaming occurred. Naruto yelped and lowered his ears at the shout. "This boy is not THE Nine Tails. He is A Nine Tails. Specifically, he is the new Nine Tails out of the Nine Tailed Beasts." Hiruzen stated. He spent the next hour explaining exactly what had happened, leaving out only the details that connected Kushina and Naruto to Minato, as he was not yet willing to reveal to the world that the legendary Yellow Flash had a vulnerable child.

Silence fell across the chamber as he finished his explanation. Everyone was processing this information. A moment later, it had sunk in and everyone reacted, but pleasing and infuriating the aging Hokage. "Hokage-Sama, it is obvious that Yondaime-Sama did this so that the beast would be weak enough to kill! We must slay it now!" cried the Gaunt Civilian from before.

"Are you mad!?" roared Choza Akimichi, "If Minato wanted that, why would he seal all the beast's power into the boy!?"

"Oh Please, it is clear that the noble ninja Kushina sacrificed her own child to allow us to kill the beast. Would you want to spit at her last wish?" came the smug reply of an unusually well-built and quite handsome member of the Jonin Council.

"Jonin Haruno, you cannot possibly be going along with this insane idea to kill the boy, are you? For goodness sake you know how sealing works!" Hiashi replied, trying to keep up his polite and regal mask in the face of his building rage.

Haruno scoffed. "Yes, I do know how sealing works, but Hokage-Sama said himself, the boy is not a Jinchuriki! He isn't a human containing a demon, he is a human turned into a demon by the beast's power. The power isn't sealed inside him, I can tell that from here; it is perfectly melded with his chakra system. Look with your Byakugan Hiashi, you will see it for yourself."

"SILENCE!" Hiruzen yelled, getting another whimper from Naruto whom was starting to squirm and whine due to the negative emotions he could feel. "You are right, Jonin Haruno, Naruto is not a Jinchuriki, but he is not a demon either. The Tailed Beasts are sentient chakra constructs. Naruto's soul has replaced that of the Nine Tails so it stands to reason that he must be treated as his own being and not merely a whipping boy for the old fox!"

"Well, then what shall we do with the boy? His mother is comatose, we don't know who the father is and even if we did we couldn't trust him with the New Nine Tails so what can we do?" Homura, one of the elders asked.

Danzo cleared his throat. "May I suggest allowing me to take the child? I can train him to be a ninja and in the process create a powerful and loyal weapon for the Leaf Village. Think of it; most villages need to use Jinchuriki to control their beasts and that can take years if they manage at all. We, on the other hand, have a new Tailed Beast ripe for moulding. Think of it; an immortal and near omnipotent soldier of the Hidden Leaf. We would never be threatened again."

Hiruzen and the Clan Heads scowled, but many of the Jonin saw the wisdom in this and the Civilians simply wanted the boy either dead or under complete control, so they supported the idea. "For once, Danzo, I partially agree with you." Hiruzen said, earning the shock of Kakashi and the Clan Heads. Danzo smirked until the dreaded "But..." was voiced. "...While I agree with your results, I do not agree with your methods. Naruto will indeed be raised to be a Ninja of the Leaf like his mother, but he will be given the choice and allowed his free will. Now all that remains is to decide who takes care of him..."

"No!" shouted one of the Jonin; a fat bearded man with blotchy red skin. The sudden yell was the last straw for little Naruto, whom yowled and wriggled so much that he fell from the Hokage's arms and landed on the floor in front of the Jonin Council. "My son was killed in the fox attack! I won't let even a tiny part of that beast remain on this earth!" he roared. In an instant, the fat Jonin threw a kunai at Naruto and would have skewered the kit if a shuriken thrown by Kakashi hadn't knocked it off course, causing it to to clatter to the floor beside Naruto.

Hiruzen looked at the jonin with a face like thunder. "ANBU! Take this fool to the T&I Division! Make sure to let them know that he tried to murder an innocent child!"

Three ANBU quickly surrounded the jonin and restrained him, but the man simply spat at the Hokage's feet and laughed. "Do what you want to me you old fool! I got my revenge!" he cackled as he was dragged from the room. Hiruzen frowned at the words. The Jonin's weapon missed, how could he have gotten his revenge? Unless…

"Hokage-Sama! The Kunai!" Kakashi yelled, already rushing forward. Hiruzen looked to Naruto, whom was looking at the Kunai and the strange paper tag wrapped around it…

"NARUTO!"

Before Kakashi or the Hokage could reach it, the tag exploded and engulfed young Naruto in flames.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: Hehe, Cliffhanger on my first chapter is kinda mean, but I plan to update this fic at least three times a week!**

 **Please Review and if you have ideas for who will be with Naruto or Sasuke, then please add them to your review or PM me! There are no limits to the number you can suggest, just type their names and which of the boys they should get with!**


	2. Prologue: Chapter 2

**AN:**

Whoop! Second Chapter time! Once we get out of the Prologue Arc, I'll start putting the current Harem/Pairings in the top AN! I got a couple of PM's with pairings already so here's hoping this will be good.

This chapter is fairly exposition heavy since I need to explain a few things, but I'll try to keep chapters like this to a minimum.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 00: PROLOGUE**

 **CHAPTER 2: THE SAGE OF THE SIX PATHS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Three ANBU quickly surrounded the jonin and restrained him, but the man simply spat at the Hokage's feet and laughed. "Do what you want to me you old fool! I got my revenge!" he cackled as he was dragged from the room. Hiruzen frowned at the words. The Jonin's weapon missed, how could he have gotten his revenge? Unless…_

" _Hokage-Sama! The Kunai!" Kakashi yelled, already rushing forward. Hiruzen looked to Naruto, whom was looking at the Kunai and the strange paper tag wrapped around it…_

" _NARUTO!"_

 _Before Kakashi or the Hokage could reach it, the tag exploded and engulfed young Naruto in flames._

 **XOXOXOX**

The explosion shook the Hokage Tower and caused all the Ninja in the area to run towards the council chamber. One Chunin threw open the door and caused the smoke of the explosion to billow out. "Hokage-Sama, what happened?" he asked, seeing the form of the Third Hokage standing with a look of shock on his face. The Chunin looked to see what has shocked not only the Hokage, but the entire Leaf Council.

Lying next to a small crater in the reinforced floor of the chamber was Naruto, the golden furred Nine Tailed Kit, looking around at the humans in the room with his little paws holding down his big floppy ears. Surrounding the boy was a thick veil of white chakra, which was flickering like white fire around Naruto. Hiruzen recovered from his shock first and dashed forward to cradle Naruto in his arms.

"Naruto! Thank goodness you're all right! What on earth happened?" Hiruzen asked, mostly to himself.

"That strange chakra seems to have protected him from the blast." Hiashi stated, his Byakugan activated.

On the other side of the Clan Council, another man had his dojutsu active. Fugaku, head of the Uchiha was examining the chakra closely with his Sharingan. "That chakra is like nothing i've ever seen! It looks like a bizarre blend of Tailed Beast Chakra and something else."

"What is that something else?" Inoichi Yamanaka asked as he watched Kakashi step toward the Hokage and pet the baby fox in his arms.

Fugaku paused before swallowing hard. "Believe it or not, it actually feels like the Chakra of my Clan mixed with that of the Senju."

Now that was good for a mini uproar right there. "That can't be possible. Are you certain Uchiha-Sama?" Koharu, the teammate of Hiruzen and Homura asked.

"I'm not 100% sure as I only saw Senju chakra with my Sharingan once, and that was when Tsunade was still in the village but…I think it is. Somehow, this boy is releasing the chakra of not only a Tailed Beast, but also a mix of the Leaf's two founding clans!" Fugaku said, too shocked to be angry that a random baby had similar chakra to his "illustrious" clan.

Before anyone else could comment on the strange phenomena, the white chakra began to pour from Naruto like a waterfall and pooled on the floor in front of the Hokage. Once the chakra stopped flowing it roared up like fire and formed into two shapes. The shapes looked solid, like the people in the room, but their outlines seemed to occasionally waver and flicker like flame. One form was scarily familiar; that of the original Nine Tailed Fox, scaled down to the size of a human and with his orange fur turned pure white. The second figure was an old man in white robes decorated with black Tomoe. The man had ashen grey skin and deep, greyish red hair with a matching beard that seemed to flow all the way to his feet. Most shockingly was his face; his eyes were purple and ringed and he had two horns on his forehead with a strange red eye-like symbol between them. In the old man's hand was a long staff with a shakujo on one end and a crescent moon on the other.

"What on earth is going on now!?" Hiruzen half-yelled as he leapt towards the council so that the two apparitions weren't between the Hokage and the other ninja in the room.

"We're here to make sure you dumb humans don't stick your heads up your asses when it comes to my successor!" yelled the apparition of Kurama.

"Now Kurama, we should speak respectfully when meeting new people, don't you think?" the old man said, his voice carrying an unnatural echo.

"You are Kurama the Nine Tails? How are you here? Minato sealed your soul into the Shinigami. And who is this man?" Hiruzen asked, keeping on guard with one hand tightly holding the still glowing Naruto and another holding a Kunai.

The old man smiled and bowed his head to the Hokage. "There is much to explain. I, along with Kurama here, are merely souls powered by what remains of our chakra. For Kurama, that is not much but for me, it is a fair amount though much less than I had in life. Think of me as merely an apparition or ghost that will soon fade once his purpose is complete." the man said.

"Yes, but who ARE you?" Kakashi asked, placing himself between Naruto and the two spirits.

The old man chuckled. "I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki; known to the world of ninja as the Sage of the Six Paths."

"Okay, now I know this isn't real." Shikaku Nara groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Did I fall asleep again?"

"No you did not, I am real and I am here to give you the information you will need if you wish to keep young Naruto both alive and happy." Hagoromo stated.

"And why would we care if the creature is alive or happy? Hundreds of people were killed by that beast, it deserves to die!" one of the few female Civilians yelled. Hagoromo fixed her with a glare.

"Firstly, it was not Naruto but his predecessor, Kurama, that killed those people and he didn't even have control of himself. If he did, then you would not have been attacked. As for your question, since Naruto is now a Tailed Beast, he cannot be truly killed. If he dies, he will simply reform after a short time and since Naruto is a Tailed Beast with a human soul, he will reform much quicker. Now, I'm sure you can all see why upsetting an immortal and immensely powerful creature would be a bad idea." he explained before using his Rinnegan to place a genjutsu on her and the rest of the Civilians, causing them all to fall unconscious. "There, now that the children are asleep, the adults may speak."

"Heh, Sage or not, I'm starting to like this guy." Tsume grinned.

"Be that as it may, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, if that is really who you are, you stated that the Nine Tails wasn't in control of himself. Can you elaborate?" Danzo asked. For all his faults, the man really did care for his village and if someone other than the fox orchestrated this attack, then there would be hell to pay.

"In order to do this, I must briefly explain a few things about my family. I am one of two brothers born from Kaguya Otsutsuki; the first wielder of chakra. She devoured a chakra fruit from a sacred tree which gave her this power. After my brother, Hamura, and I were born, mother grew mad, unable to deal with the fact that someone other than her now wielded her precious chakra, as it has passed through her blood to us. She fused herself with the sacred tree and became the Ten Tails. My brother and I were able to defeat her and seal her up; taking the chakra of the Ten Tails and placing it inside me while the husk of her body was sealed into the moon. My brother departed to the moon not long after, but left his children behind. His twin daughters were the originators of the Hyuga and Kaguya Clans and each inherited one of my mother's bloodlines; the Byakugan and the Dead Bone Pulse. I on the other hand awakened the Sharingan which evolved into my Rinnegan. I had two sons; Indra and Asura whom founded the Uchiha and Senju clans respectively. The Senju and their offshoot clan, the Uzumaki, inherited my strong body while the Uchiha inherited the Sharingan. Lastly, I used my power to split the Ten Tails chakra into the nine Tailed Beasts and released them into the world."

The council was in stunned silence, leaving only the sounds of Naruto's mewling. Hiashi was the first to recover; "So, the Hyuga share a common ancestor with the Uchiha and Senju? And who could have guessed that the barbaric Kaguya Clan held the bloodline of the mother of Chakra..."

"It certainly puts some things in perspective, but it doesn't answer Danzo's question. What does this story have to do with the Nine Tails attack?" Haruno frowned.

Hagoromo sighed. "You will not like this. Unlike Hamura, I did not inherit my mother's Byakugan but instead received the Sharingan which combined with my powerful body to form the Rinnegan. Because I used a portion of my Rinnegan's power to divide the Tailed Beasts from the Ten Tails, they all have a connection with my eyes. Put simply, anyone with a Rinnegan can perfectly control a Tailed Beast and someone with the Sharingan or the more potent Mangekyo Sharingan could either suppress or loosely control the beasts. Kurama has already confirmed to me that a Sharingan user was the one to control him and make him attack."

Fugaku leapt to his feet with rage in his spinning red eyes. "Now wait just a second! Why would an Uchiha attack our own village!? This is our home as much as it is anyone else's!"

"And yet the most famous threat to ever challenge the Leaf Village was Madara Uchiha. This village was his home too, he even helped found it, but he still attacked it. Plus, you Uchiha haven't shut up about your supposedly declining power since the reign of the Second Hokage." Danzo stated.

Unease drifted through the council. Everyone knew that the Uchiha, Fugaku included were hot headed and an insult, even an imagined one could cause them to blow up, which in the setting of the council chambers, could result in a messy conflict. Jonin Haruno, who has long desired to have a part of the Uchiha Clan's power quickly came to Fugaku's defence. "Danzo-Sama, Uchiha-Sama, there is no need for us to fight. Hagoromo-Sama merely said the Sharingan was needed. Perhaps an Uchiha Missing-Nin or someone with a transplanted Sharingan could be the culprit." Haruno said, looking pointedly at Kakashi.

"There are no Uchiha Missing-Nin. Everyone that has ever defected has been caught. Not only that, but we have accounted for every killed Uchiha's eyes. The only one we never discovered was the right eye of Obito Uchiha, but due to how the boy died, the eye would have been crushed." Danzo said, hiding his smugness.

"What about Kakashi then? He has a Sharingan and could have done it." Haruno said, making Kakashi growl at him.

Hagoromo, tired of this arguing, tapped his staff on the ground. "The young man did not do this. Kurama knows the chakra of the one who did this and has confirmed that they were 100% Uchiha. Unfortunately, he was not in contact with his chakra long enough to be able to give a guaranteed match to any individual. The whose and Whys can be discovered by you at a later date, for now, my chakra is dwindling so I must do what I came for and leave. Someone bring me a scroll." he instructed.

One of the other Jonin Councillors, who had been silent to this point, pulled out large scroll from his back and handed it to the Hokage. Hiruzen opened it up and held it out to Hagoromo. The Sage of the Six Paths promptly placed his hands on the scroll and writing began to appear, until every part of the scroll was filled with the Sage's fluid handwriting. "This Scroll now contains information on how to raise a young Tailed Beast, especially one with a human soul. The day-to-day needs of Naruto are described within, as well as explanations of his powers, or at least a vague idea of what his powers are. I will be creating a special seal on Naruto's soul that will allow him to freely communicate with Kurama's spirit, it will also allow him to communicate with his new brothers and sisters once he gets a bit of control over his power."

"Speaking of Kurama's Spirit, you still haven't explained why he is not sealed in the Shinigami's stomach." Hiruzen pointed out as he wrapped up the scroll.

Kurama grinned. "Ha! The Shinigami can't contain the soul of a Tailed Beast! It can hold our chakra or even a part of our soul, but not all of it. When Minato Namikaze used the seal, the Reaper couldn't take my soul completely and I was shot back through the void to where my father's spirit was. You should be glad, thanks to that, the Shinigami couldn't complete his part of the deal and had to release Namikaze's soul! Unfortunately its link with his body was severed so now the soul is stuck inside a body it can't move. But hell, maybe the kit will be able to do something about it? I bet he could help his mom too, since it was the shock of my extraction after child birth that put her in her own coma."

"So we could get Kushina-Sama and Yondaime-Sama back!?" Kakashi asked excitedly.

"It is within the realm of possibility. Now, I must place the seal on Naruto; he will likely need Kurama's guidance in the future. Trust in this boy; he will do more than you can ever imagine." Hagoromo said, wearing a proud smile as he gently placed a finger on Naruto's chest. The Kanji for Nine appeared for a moment before vanishing. "The Seal is in place. Now, my Chakra is nearly gone and Kurama is likely in the same boat. I bid you all farewell." Hagoromo bowed his head, before his body began to disappear into the white chakra that spawned it.

The Nine Tails fixed the gather ninja with a stern eye. "Let me give a warning that the old man was too soft to; we Tailed Beasts were not born demons, it was the humans who used and abused us that made us demons. If you do the same to Naruto, he will become a threat beyond your power as unlike a normal Tailed Beast, you can't seal him up. He has a Human Soul and Human Blood. Remember that. And if anyone messes with him, I'll hunt them down in the afterlife and rip apart their souls!"

That last threat made the whole room pale and allowed Kurama to disappear with a grin and an evil chuckle. The last of the white chakra vanished and Naruto stopped glowing before falling asleep, apparently exhausted by all the activity. After the Ninja of the Council had time to recover, Sarutobi made everything that followed Hagoromo knocking out the Civilians an SSS Rank Secret and surprisingly, everyone agreed, even Fugaku, Danzo and Haruno. Wanting the meeting to finally be over, Hiruzen released the Genjutsu on the Civilians, which was actually as weak as could be; a testament either to Hagoromo's limited chakra as a ghost, or his self-restraint.

"Ugh, what happened?" asked the Gaunt Councillor, groggily getting back to his feet.

"Hagoromo-Sama placed us all in a Genjutsu after that explanation. We came to a short time ago but he was gone. He left only this scroll on how to care for Naruto." Hiruzen lied.

Inoichi nodded. "Speaking of Naruto, what shall we do with him. We still need someone to raise him?"

"How about Uchiha-Sama?" one Civilian asked.

Everyone but Fugaku frowned. No way were they going to give a Tailed Beast to someone who could so easily control it. "Fugaku already has two sons, including a newborn only a little older than Naruto. It would be unfair to make him raise a third child, especially one with such...delicate...circumstances." Hiruzen said, smoothly hiding the real reason from the Civilians.

Danzo then proceeded to further shock Hiruzen by coming up with a fairly good idea. "Why not the Hyuga? Hiashi has no children of his own yet and the Hyuga's Byakugan can easily detect if the boy's Chakra is taking any negative turns. And if he does get out of hand, their Gentle Fist could subdue the boy with minimal harm to his person. And finally, they own high status would protect the boy from outside threats."

Hiruzen nodded. "That makes the most sense to me. Hiashi, would you be okay with this?"

The Hyuga Head nodded. "My wife, Hikari, is 7 months pregnant and we are preparing to raise a child already so it would be easy to make room for Naruto. Plus we were friends of his mother's. We would happily take him if there are no objections." The council couldn't find any fault with it and the ignorant Civilians, whom had no knowledge of Hiashi's true, softer nature or his wife's extreme kindness, just assumed that the boy would be strictly controlled and thoroughly punished under the stern Hyuga.

And so, after a long day, Hiashi Hyuga followed by Kakashi Hatake and Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the Hyuga Estates, where his wife was waiting to welcome another new child into the world.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:** **And we've arrived at the end of the second chapter! We only have one more chapter before we reach the end of the Prologue Arc!**

 **N** **ext Chapter will deal with the Uchiha Massacre and the beginning of Naruto's childhood.**


	3. Prologue: Chapter 3

**AN:**

Well its time for the third and final chapter of the Prologue Arc! Stay Tuned to the end of the chapter to discover what the next arc will be!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 00: PROLOGUE**

 **CHAPTER 3: TRAGEDIES OF YOUTH**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _The Hyuga Head nodded. "My wife, Hikari, is 7 months pregnant and we are preparing to raise a child already so it would be easy to make room for Naruto. Plus we were friends of his mother's. We would happily take him if there are no objections." The council couldn't find any fault with it and the ignorant Civilians, whom had no knowledge of Hiashi's true, softer nature or his wife's extreme kindness, just assumed that the boy would be strictly controlled and thoroughly punished under the stern Hyuga._

 _And so, after a long day, Hiashi Hyuga followed by Kakashi Hatake and Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the Hyuga Estates, where his wife was waiting to welcome another new child into the world._

 **XOXOXOX**

Five years had passed since the fateful night of the Nine Tails Attack and the Hidden Leaf Village had changed a lot. It hadn't been difficult to repair the damage done to the buildings, but the damage done to the people, Civilian and Ninja alike, had been much more difficult to heal. Within days of Hiashi and Hikari Hyuga taking in young Naruto as their ward, it has been spilled to everyone in the village exactly who and what the boy was. This, along with the revelation that a Sharingan wielder had caused the incident had sent much of the Leaf into a sort of Social civil war.

Many Civilians repeated called for Naruto to be killed for the actions of Kurama, as they refused to believe that the Uchiha would ever betray their home. The Uchiha themselves were furious that someone had dared accused them of the crime and their hatred had extended to the little fox boy. Only Itachi Uchiha had seen the truth of the matter and he tried to steer his little brother Sasuke down the right path, much to the chagrin of their father. The last faction against Naruto were much closer to home though; the Hyuga Council of Elders.

The Elders had at first been enraged that the Hokage would force them to adopt the boy into their illustrious clan, but that had been placated when Hiashi made it clear that Naruto was their guest and ward, not a Clan Member. Then, the Elders had tried to have the boy placed into the Branch Family with Hizashi Hyuga and his young son Neji, claiming that it was beneath the Main House to care for some random child. Hiashi had been sure to let them know exactly what he thought about that and such a tirade of foul language had never been heard from the man before.

Of course, not everyone was against Naruto. Hiashi and the other Clan Heads, sans Fugaku, all loved the boy and made sure to raise him well. Their children became fast friends with him, especially Little Hinata and young Kiba. The other ninja of the village were also supportive, especially those of Kakashi's generation and they would frequently protect the boy when he would go out on his own outside the Hyuga Compound.

To the surprise of many, Danzo became a major supporter of Naruto, citing that if he could not control and mould the boy as he wanted, he could at least make sure Naruto knew that he was a friend and a vital part of maintaining the Leaf's safety.

As for Naruto himself, he had proven to be full of surprises. According to Hagoromo's scroll, the boy didn't need to eat, drink or sleep to survive, yet he did all three of those things as often as he could. He had also slowly developed the ability to walk and talk, as well as transform his fox body back to his original human form whenever it suited him. All in all, Naruto was a happy-go-lucky child and had many friends, but it was always in the back of his mind that he was to be a hero; a great person and saviour of the Leaf. Danzo and many of the Leaf's Ninja and Clan Heads had instilled this in him from a young age, while Hinata and Hiruzen had kept him humble.

It would not be long before Naruto was first called a hero, in fact, it happened when he was only three years old…

 **(Three years after Naruto's Birth)**

Naruto happily padded along beside Hinata as she made her way to the Main Household's dining hall for her birthday celebration. The little fox had been close to Hinata since her birth and had rarely left her side, much to Hinata's happiness.

"Hinata-chan, we need to hurry or we won't get food!" Naruto said, hopping about in fox form. His human form was the normal size and shape for a three year old boy, but his fox form was around the size of a common garden fox, with the exception of his nine fluffy tails.

"Naruto-kun, they won't run out for a long time and father won't let them start without me." Hinata giggled, walking slowly since she wasn't as sure on her feet as her furry companion was.

"Man, I need to find a way to turn you into a fox! Foxes move so much faster than human three year olds!" Naruto teased, hopping and leaping about, earning more giggles from Hinata.

"I don't think the elders would like that. You cause enough trouble on your own." came a familiar voice. Naruto and Hinata looked up to see Hiashi standing outside the door to the Dining Hall, wearing a bemused smile on his face. "Come now you two, we have cake and sweets of all kinds and if you don't hurry, your mother may eat them all herself!"

Naruto and Hinata giggled and ran to Hiashi so they could enjoy their meal. It wasn't as extravagant as one would normally expect of a Hyuga dinner party, but that was merely because not as many people were there. The Hidden Cloud Village had sent a delegation to the Leaf to sign a peace treaty and pretty much the whole village was watching the parade that was happening on Main street. Only the Hyuga weren't present as they preferred to celebrate the birthday of their heiress.

The little party went very well; Naruto stuffed his face by using his nine tails like extra hands to grab food, while Hinata and her parents laughed. When it was time for presents, Hinata carefully opened each one and graciously thanked the one that had given it to her. From her parents, she had received a beautiful new kimono that was styled in a similar fashion to her mother's formal kimonos. From Neji and her uncle, she received a new training uniform, as she would soon begin formal training in the Gentle Fist style. And Lastly, from Naruto, she got a special photo album to display the flowers she pressed along with a set of gardening tools made just for kids. All in all, it had been a successful party and by the end, the children were asleep on their feet.

"Hehe, we should be putting them to bed. They'll have a busy day visiting with the other clans tomorrow." Hikari smiled, her long, dark blue hair brushed neatly behind her ear.

"Yes, I think you are right." Hiashi replied, watching as Hinata clung to Naruto's fur to keep herself standing. "Come now children, bed time." he said, scooping them both up into his arms. Across the room, Hizashi was doing the same thing with Neji and was about to leave the room when he was stopped by some elders. Hiashi knew what this meant; they were prepared to seal Neji…

Hiashi frowned and shook his head. There was nothing he could do for his brother and nephew. He looked down at the dozing faces of Naruto and Hinata. _'Maybe they will find a way to lift this curse from our clan'_ he thought before taking them both to Hinata's room and tucking them into bed. Naruto had originally had a room of his own, but since Hinata was born, the little fox had always curled up with her, so his room has been converted into the children's play room. Hiashi stooped to kiss his daughter on the forehead and then gently ran his fingers through Naruto's fur with a silent goodnight.

It would be several hours later, not long after midnight, that things would go south. With the entire compound fast asleep minus a few tired guards, it was simple for a prepared ninja to stealthily slip into the compound, his entire form covered by black garb to further help him meld into the shadows. The intruder carefully crept to the room he knew to belong to the Hyuga Heiress and easily slipped in the window. With a sinister smirk behind his mask, the man bent over the bed to retrieve his prize when he was suddenly given pause.

Staring up at him from beside the Hyuga Heiress were a pair of brilliant blue eyes.

' _A toy fox?'_ the man thought.

He got his answer when Naruto leapt at him, claws extended and tails flailing wildly as he cried, growled and yelped as loud as he could while attacking the man. The intruder did his best to shut the fox up and was finally able to punch the fox boy off of his face, though he received a long gash to his face courtesy of Naruto's claws. With his mask in tatters from the assault, Naruto looked at the man and saw the glisten of a headband. Knowing that this man was an enemy Ninja, Naruto called upon his chakra, making his tails extend and wrap around the shinobi, leaving him immobile.

Seconds later, Hiashi and a small army of Hyuga guards stormed into the room and witnessed what had happened. The enemy ninja, revealed to be the Hidden Cloud Ambassador, was struggling furiously against Naruto's tails, but thanks to the Tailed Beast's chakra, they were as tough as steel. Hinata was wrapped in another of Naruto's tails, but it was a comforting embrace as the startled cries of Naruto had scared her to tears.

"Naruto, what happened here!?" Hiashi asked, trying to keep his temper under control.

"I woke up because I felt something weird! When I opened my eyes, I saw this ninja leering at Hinata! I could feel his bad intentions, so I attacked him. When I saw his headband, I tied him up." Naruto explained, growing and puffing up his fur to make himself look scarier to the captured ninja.

"The brat is lying!" the Cloud Ninja yelled. "I was celebrating the treaty on the main street when this creature came and kidnapped me! Make him release me before he eats me!"

Hiashi scowled and backhanded the Cloud Ninja. "Don't bother levying such pointless accusations. We are taking you to the T&I department and they will get the truth from you!" he declared as the Hyuga Guards moved to block the captive man's tenketsu, so Naruto could safely release him into Hiashi's custody.

"You'll regret this you damned Hyuga!" the ninja yelled. Hiashi merely scoffed and turned to the two children.

"I need to go to the Hokage and make sure that villain will be locked up tight. Naruto, thank you for saving my daughter; you are truly a hero. Now, I want you to take Hinata to her mother; you two will sleep in her room tonight while I sort this out." Hiashi said, giving Naruto a pat on the head.

Naruto gave a foxy grin and blushed a bit at the praise before gently leading the still frightened Hinata to her mother.

 **(The Present)**

Following that incident, the Fourth Raikage himself came to the Hidden Leaf to answer for his ninja's crimes. To the surprise of the Leaf however, Raikage Ay angrily killed the ninja, declaring him a traitor. Apparently the Cloud Ninja had been acting at the behest of a small, secret collection of Cloud Council members, who were carrying on the Bloodline obsessed ways of Ay's father.

In order to keep Naruto a secret from the Cloud, Hiruzen and the Leaf Council presented Hiashi as the one who captured the rogue ninja and Ay thanked the man for sparing his life (even though Hiashi would have killed the man in an instant were it not for Naruto), so that a political backlash could be avoided. Finally, the Raikage reaffirmed the terms of the treaty and gave a small monetary gift to the Hyuga as an apology before leaving.

As soon as the Raikage had gone, Hiruzen announced to the village that it was Naruto who had saved Hinata and captured the enemy ninja, which earned him much praise from the Leaf Ninja and bitter scoffs from the civilians. To reward Naruto, he was given the payment for a solo S-Rank mission and had the mission placed on his official Shinobi record. At three years old, Naruto had already completed an S-Rank! That wasn't the only reward he got of course, but it would be quite a while before he realised the effect his gallant rescue had on the young Hyuga heiress…

"Naruto!" Hikari shouted, as she slowly waddled around the Hyuga Compound with Hinata in tow. Hikari was heavily pregnant with her second child and the now five year old Hinata was looking forward to meeting her new sibling.

A blond boy with shining blue eyes and whisker marks on his cheeks popped out from the ceiling, landing in front of Hikari. "You called Auntie Hikari?" Naruto grinned, his nine tails swaying behind him. Even in his Human form, Naruto commonly kept the ears and tails of his Fox form, as it required a lot more chakra to hide the tails and Hinata loved his ears.

Hikari nodded, "We are going to the Hospital." she instructed.

"Oh! Is the baby ready?" Naruto asked, gently putting a hand on the bump on Hikari's stomach.

"I'm afraid not." the Hyuga Matriarch said sadly. "We are going to visit Mikoto Uchiha and her sons. To pay our respects."

Instantly, Naruto and Hinata stiffened. They knew that that meant; someone had died. They had experienced it when one of the Hyuga Elders died and it had been a sad affair that neither wanted to experience. Still, Naruto obediently fell into line with Hinata and followed Hikari as she slowly made her way to the hospital, maintaining his human form so as not to cause unnecessary hysteria among the civilians, especially since his Fox form had grown to the size of German Shepherd.

When they arrived at the hospital, the Medic Nin at the front desk led them to the room where the Uchihas were being kept. Outside the door to the room was the Third Hokage, Danzo Shimura and the other Clan Heads. "Hokage-Sama, I'm here to pay respects to Mikoto and her boys." Hikari said, bowing her head a bit.

"Ah, Hikari. It was good of you to come, especially in your condition." Hiruzen replied.

"It was the least I could do. Mikoto and I were on the same Genin team as children. Please Hokage-Sama, tell me what happened." Hikari asked.

The Hokage nodded and directed everyone into an empty room next to the Uchihas' room. He and Danzo then quickly put up privacy seals. "What I am about to tell you must not leave this room. Only the Elder Council, the Clan Council and Hikari Hyuga are to know about this." Hiruzen began.

"In that case, shouldn't Hinata and Naruto leave?" Inoichi pointed out.

Hiruzen shook his head. "No. Young Sasuke Uchiha is going to need a lot of help to get over these events and I want a couple of his peers to know the truth, so they can be his true friends. If we cover it up and then reveal the truth later, it may create fractures between him and them. Best at least a couple know from the beginning and I trust these two the most."

Hinata and Naruto felt a bit of pride at being so well trusted by the Hokage, but remained silent as the old man explained. "Since the Uchiha were accused of the Nine Tails Attack five years ago, they have been losing both popularity and power among all groups within the village, excluding the Civilians whom trusted them as their law enforcement. Not only that, but after the Hyuga Affair two years ago, some have been whispering that the Uchiha helped the Rogue Cloud Ninja as a way of weakening their greatest rival clan. There was no evidence to make this anything more than a vicious rumour, but it still had an effect."

"And so, with their power weakening, the Uchiha Clan made a decision." Danzo continued on from Hiruzen. "They planned a Coup d'etat against the Hidden Leaf Village."

"No way! Why would Fugaku allow such a thing!? There is no way the Uchiha could win against the whole village!" Choza half-yelled.

"Unfortunately, the Uchiha felt they had been driven into a corner. I have been in negotiations with them to try and make them see reason, but I could not give them what they wanted; namely a much larger influence in the village, seniority over the other clans and, Naruto himself." Hiruzen frowned.

"They wanted me!?" Naruto shouted.

"Yes. They felt that as the new Nine Tails, you were responsible for the actions of the old one and by extension, the beginning of their steadily decreasing power. They wanted you as a weapon to rebuild their power." Danzo answered, patting the boy's head with his good arm. "Naturally we refused."

"So what exactly happened last night then?" Hikari asked.

"What happened was one of the few loyalist Uchiha; Shisui Uchiha, took it upon himself to save the village from the Uchiha Coup. He did this by massacring the entire clan. Only Mikoto and Sasuke were spared and that was only due to Itachi being able to drive off his old friend. Itachi survived the encounter, but like his mother and brother, he was hurt in the fight." Hiruzen answered, his voice hollow as he looked out the window toward the village. "Shisui has since fled the village. We have our best ANBU chasing him, but our chances of recovering Shisui, dead or alive, is nearly nil."

Everyone stared silently at the floor. Hinata cried quietly, feeling sorrow at such a great loss of life while Naruto comforted her. The Uchiha had tried to use him as a weapon, but even knowing that, Naruto could not bring himself to hate them or curse the dead.

"C-Can we go next door now? To visit the survivors?" Naruto asked quietly, holding Hinata's hand tightly.

Hiruzen smiled sadly and nodded, releasing the privacy seals so the small group could leave. Hikari led the children next door and knocked gently. "Come in" came a female voice.

Hikari opened the door and her smile faltered for a moment. Mikoto was sitting in a chair between her sons' beds, a few bandages wrapped around her arms and one on her cheek. Itachi was on her right, with his left arm and leg wrapped up tight and held in slings. On Mikoto's left was Sasuke, whom was sitting up in bed and looking at his hands with a dark expression, the clear stains of tears on his cheeks.

"Hikari-chan, it's good to see you. Thank you for coming all this way." Mikoto said, smiling weakly. "Oh! And you brought the little ones."

At that, Sasuke and Itachi both looked towards the pregnant woman and the two children at her sides. "Hi guys." Naruto said, trying his best to be cheerful in an attempt to cheer the Uchihas up."

"It is good to see you, Naruto-kun. Have you been taking care of yourself?" Itachi asked, struggling to sit up.

"I'm okay. Hinata and I have been working hard in our training, so we'll be ready for the academy in a couple of years. How about you? Are...Are you holding up okay?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke bristled. "Our entire family has just been murdered by a traitor! How do you think we're holding up!?"

"Sasuke, it's not Naruto's fault. He's just trying to be considerate." Mikoto gently scolded.

"Mother is right, little brother. You should apologise." Itachi added, a bit more firmly than his mother.

The younger Uchiha scoffed. "If he wants to be considerate, he should offer to use his Tailed Beast Power to help us get revenge!"

Naruto frowned. "Old Man Hokage told me I must never use my powers for revenge. I don't want to be a monster..."

"You already are a monster! You might as well be useful!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto recoiled a bit and subconsciously wrapped his tails around himself. Hinata scowled. "Hey! Don't call him that! I'm sorry you had such a horrible thing happen to your family, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on my Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted.

"Y-your Naruto-kun?" Naruto asked, blushing madly. Hinata instantly went beet red and backed up.

"Um, what I meant was… EEP!" Hinata promptly fainted, being caught by one of Naruto's tails.

Mikoto and Hikari were distracted enough giggling at the two children that they didn't notice the glare Sasuke was giving Naruto, or the sad look that Itachi had for his brother.

' _Please, Naruto-kun, I hope you have a better chance of helping Sasuke than I do...'_ Itachi thought sadly.

Only time would tell however, as after the Uchiha were discharged from the hospital, they were moved into a wealthy apartment and Itachi was made the new Uchiha Clan Head. The Civilians promptly spoiled Sasuke rotten, much to the distaste of his mother and brother. Two more years passed, and it was finally time for the new generation to start the Academy.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And that is the end of the Prologue Arc! Next chapter will begin the Academy Arc. Be warned that their will be Sasuke and Sakura bashing, with Sasuke being redeemed in this upcoming arc and Sakura being redeemed in the arc afterwards.**

 **Don't forget to send in your suggestions for Naruto and Sasuke's lovers. The poll has been put up yet, but I've been keeping track!**

 **Please Review and I'll see you next time!**


	4. Academy: Chapter 1

**AN:**

Now we get to the first real arc of this story!

The Academy Arc will go on until Naruto graduates and joins a team! I currently have five chapters planned for this arc, so it is fairly short. It'll also be the first chance to see a little action in the story!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST DAY**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Mikoto and Hikari were distracted enough giggling at the two children that they didn't notice the glare Sasuke was giving Naruto, or the sad look that Itachi had for his brother._

' _Please, Naruto-kun, I hope you have a better chance of helping Sasuke than I do...' Itachi thought sadly._

 _Only time would tell however, as after the Uchiha were discharged from the hospital, they were moved into a wealthy apartment and Itachi was made the new Uchiha Clan Head. The Civilians promptly spoiled Sasuke rotten, much to the distaste of his mother and brother. Two more years passed, and it was finally time for the new generation to start the Academy._

 **XOXOXOX**

Iruka Umino, a Chunin of the Hidden Leaf, stood at the front of his new class of students; a collection of thirty kids that he would be responsible for training for the next five years. Almost all the Clan Children were in his class, with only the Sarutobi Clan's Konohamaru and the Hyuga Clan's Hanabi not being present due to being too young. In addition, there were a few other prominent students; namely Sai, an Orphan that Danzo had taken as an apprentice, Sakura Haruno, the niece of Jonin Councillor Kisuke Haruno and lastly, either the Village Hero, or the Village Pariah depending on who you asked; Naruto Uzumaki.

The Seven year old blonde boy was currently in his 100% human form, without ears or tail so as not to draw attention to him until he was ready. Iruka was conflicted over the boy; on the one hand, his parents had been killed in the previous Nine Tails' attack. On the other hand, Naruto himself was innocent and had gained a reputation as a loveable prankster with a heart of gold. Even knowing this, Iruka had been unsure of how to deal with the boy until a couple of Civilian Councilmen came to the Academy and paid the teachers to make sure the boy failed, so he wouldn't grow stronger and endanger the village. That had set off Iruka's pride as a teacher and he promptly refused before threatening and accusing the rest of the teachers to refuse as well. Whether he intended it or not, Iruka had firmly planted himself in the Pro-Naruto camp of the village.

Still, as Iruka looked at the mostly happy and chattering faces of the students, he felt at easy. "All right everybody, its time to get class under way. My name is Iruka Umino and I will be your Sensei for the next five years. Now, I would like everyone to give introductions; you don't need to tell us more than your name, but feel free to add details if you want. We will start with the front row."

One by one, the Civilian Children and the Children of less prominent ninja stood and introduced themselves with the odd one or two adding in their likes, hobbies and dreams. By the time it got to the final ten students, only the prominent clan kids remained.

A Pale skinned, dark haired boy in plain black clothes stood up and bowed his head. "My name is Sai. Hello." he said in a monotone before sitting down.

Next to Sai, Sasuke stood up. "I am Sasuke Uchiha, Heir to the Uchiha Clan." he said, ignoring the smitten looks he got from some of the girls as he sat back down.

Next stood a pink haired girl in a pale green shirt with a big red ribbon in her hair. "I'm Sakura Haruno!" she said with a happy smile before sitting back down and giving an even bigger smile to Sasuke.

An annoyed looking blonde girl in peach coloured shirt stood next. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, Heiress of the Yamanaka Clan! And I hate those that don't take being a Kunoichi seriously!" she said with a scowl at Sakura. In truth, Ino was as much a fan girl as Sakura was, but she took her training seriously.

The boy beside her and his head on the desk; his long black hair in a pineapple style. Not bothering to stand or even sit up he just groaned. "I'm Shikamaru Nara. Heir to the Nara Clan." he said lazily, not bother to add more.

Next was a chubby little boy with red swirls on his cheeks, whom was idly chewing on a handful of potato chips. "I'm Choji Akimichi, Heir to the Akimichi. I hope we can be friends." he said with a nervous smile.

As Choji sat down, a feral looking child with red fang marks on his cheeks shot to his feet and jumped on the desk, a tiny white puppy barking happily from his hood, "I'm Kiba Inuzuka! And I'm going to be the top dog of the Inuzuka Clan and this class!"

Iruka shook his head as Kiba smirked and sat back down. Kiba was going to be trouble… With a sigh, Iruka gestured for the next boy to introduce himself. A hooded and trench coat wearing boy stood up, his eyes hidden by glasses. "I am Shino Aburame. If you see any insects in this classroom, they are mine, so please don't kill them." he said quietly before sitting back down. Many of the class looked freaked out by Shino as Hinata stood to give her introduction.

"My name is Hinata Hyuga, Heiress of the Hyuga Clan. I hope we can all get along." she said, blushing and giving a small bow to the class. A few boys commented on how she was kind of cute, while others in the class silently wondered about her violet, pupil-less eyes.

Lastly, Naruto stood up, but to those that didn't know him, he looked boring compared to some of the strange people that went before him. Naruto gave a respectful bow, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, a ward of the Hyuga Clan and I..." he gained a mischievous grin as smoke surrounded his body. The smoke cleared to reveal the large, nearly pony-sized Nine Tailed Golden Fox "...am the New and Improved Nine Tailed Fox!"

The class quickly erupted into pandemonium as those that new of Naruto's secret began to laugh (or glare in the case of Sasuke) while those that didn't began to panic and run for the door, or to hide behind Iruka-sensei. It took a few minutes before Iruka was able to calm the group. "Honestly Naruto, was that necessary?" Iruka frowned.

"Hehe, Uncle Hiashi said it would be a good idea to let everyone know straight away, so they wouldn't be surprised if I transformed by accident." Naruto smiled, still in his fox form. Iruka sighed again; he knew that Naruto would sometimes transform back into a fox on his own if he got too excited so he couldn't fault the boy. Plus, most of the village already knew, though the students of his class hadn't known the fox boy would be in their class.

Once Iruka made certain that everyone knew that Naruto was not a wild monster or a demon, he was finally able to start the brunt of the class. As it was only the first day, Iruka outlined to the children about the things they would learn from Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu to Bukijutsu and Fuinjutsu. Those five skills were a Ninja's greatest tools, so they would need to be learned even if it was only enough to counter them. Once Iruka had outlined what each of the five skills meant, he had everyone go to the Training Yard for their Assessment Tests, which would decide what their personal rankings were.

"Okay class, as you know, each year group tracks and ranks its members based on all their scores. The Top score in each year is given the title Rookie of the Year, while the top in each gender are given the title of either Top Shinobi or Top Kunoichi. The very lowest score will be named Dead Last. We will be doing these Assessment Tests every 10 weeks, so we can keep the scores accurate as you all grow. Now, hands up if you have already received some Ninja training." Iruka asked.

The Clan Heirs and those from Ninja families all raised their hands, along with a few Civilians which had likely had private tutors paid for by their parents. Surprisingly, despite being the niece of a ninja and being raised by him since her parents died, Sakura did not raise her hand.

"Okay, that's good. The Assessment Test will be fairly simple; those without training will only watch for now and won't be assessed until the end of the term. Those with training will demonstrate their abilities with the five Shinobi skills I described in class. Lets begin!"

The tests were fairly simple and to the point; for Genjutsu, no one could cast one yet, but most of the students could break out of a simple one within a minute. Sasuke and Hinata broke out the fastest while Kiba and Choji took the longest. Strangely, Naruto wasn't effected at all, since the constant shifting between his human and Tailed Beast Chakra meant it was nearly impossible to place a Genjutsu on him.

For Fuinjutsu, almost no one could do anything with seals. Shikamaru was able to make a small storage seal and Naruto could mimic it successfully (which Iruka attributed to his Uzumaki blood). Bukijutsu, or more specifically Shurikenjutsu, was fairly impressive, with most students being able to hit the targets at least 50% of the time, even if they didn't get too close to the kill spots. Sasuke dominated this test and Naruto did average, since he hadn't trained much in Shurikenjutsu.

Then came the fun part for most of the students; the Ninjutsu test. In order to help with this test, Iruka called for his teaching assistant and fellow Chunin; Mizuki. The Ninja trained students were able to pull off one or two of the basic Academy Jutsu with a lot of effort, but it was the Clan kids that did the best. Sasuke showed off his **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu** , which had made everyone look on amazed at the flames, which could encompass a horse in size. Sai didn't say anything, but was able to turn his drawings to life, while Ino used her **Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu** to take control of Sakura and make her do a silly dance, much to her annoyance. Shikamaru used **Shadow Possession Jutsu** to make Iruka mimic his moves, Choji used **Partial Expansion Jutsu** to make his hand grow huge, Kiba used the **Tunnelling Fang** (though it made him dizzy), Shino merely directing a horde of his insects with his chakra and Hinata activated her Byakugan. Iruka clapped along with this and turned to Naruto.

"Okay Naruto, you're up. Please show us any and all Jutsu you can perform." Iruka ordered.

Naruto nodded and grinned. First he transformed back into his Fox Form, then again into his Human Form. Then he used Substitution to swap places with Iruka. Lastly, he turned into his Fox Form again and created a small blue fire ball on the end of each tail, which he could freely move and control. "I can't show you it, but I can also use the Tailed Beast Bomb! Though it's pretty small, it would still do a lot of damage if I'm not careful." Naruto said, turning back into a human.

His sensei smiled. "I'm glad you chose to show restraint. However, even without that Bomb of yours, you would still be the top ranked Student in Ninjutsu with the most successful jutsus cast. Well done. Now, everybody get ready for the Taijutsu test! We will be doing a Boys tournament and a Girls tournament, but remember that in later years, you will be expected to fight ninja of the opposite gender."

All the students gave a call of "Yes Sensei" before moving to the ring where the fights would take place. The Girls Tournament would go first, since there were only four girls in the class with Ninja Training. The First Round matched Ino and Hinata against two Privately trained Civilian girls, but they were no match for the Heiresses and were quickly ejected from the ring. Then came the match between Ino and Hinata.

The two girls had been friends since they were little, due to their mutual rank of Heiress and were quiet close, despite Hinata being shy and reserved while Ino was loud and liked to be the centre of attention. "Okay girls, begin!" Iruka declared.

Ino made the first move while Hinata got in her stance. The blonde girl kicked at Hinata's leg, trying to unbalance her but Hinata simply shifted her stance, causing Ino to miss. Ino hadn't expected this so she lost her balance, allowing Hinata to strike forward and block a tenketsu in the other girl's arm. Ino growled, no longer able to move her right arm properly, but she still pressed on; keeping her struck arm in a guarding position while striking with her left in a flurry of punches. Hinata skilfully blocked or redirected each blow and as soon as she saw an opening, she shot forward and landed three direct strikes; one to each of Ino's untouched Limbs. The sudden stiffness in her arms and legs left Ino unable to move quickly enough to avoid the double palmed thrust which knocked her out of the ring.

"Winner: Hinata Hyuga! Well done to both of you." Iruka smiled. "Now its time for the Boys Matches! Since we have an odd number of boys, Mizuki will spar with one of you and will let you advance if he thinks you did well enough."

Hinata helped Ino to her feet and unblocked her tenketsu, before going over to Naruto to wish him luck. "Naruto-kun, if you win the tournament, I'll treat you to Ramen." Hinata said with a teasing grin, loving how Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought of his favourite food.

"You're on, Hinata-chan!" Naruto declared as he stepped towards the ring with the other boys. The first round matches were fairly...disappointing. Sasuke fought Shino and the bug user surrendered after seeing that Sasuke was more than skilled enough to win and Shino didn't want to be pointlessly injured. Kiba fought Sai and it was another quick match, since Sai barely tried to fight and allowed himself to be thrown from the ring without laying a hand on Kiba. Shikamaru fought Choji, but since both boys were good friends and Shikamaru knew Choji didn't have it in him to hurt a friend, the Nara boy surrendered, allowing Choji to move forward.

Then there came the fight between Naruto and Mizuki.

Mizuki could barely contain his smirk at the thought of "accidentally" giving the Fox Boy a good beating. And he'd been given the opportunity by one of the boy's own supporters; Iruka! Naruto glared at Mizuki, sensing the foul emotions welling up inside the silver haired man. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, we can't use Ninjutsu or weapons in these spars, can we?" he asked, formulating a plan.

"No Naruto, this is Taijutsu only." Iruka replied.

"In that case, can I fight in Fox Form? That is my real form as much as this one is and in a fight, I might accidentally swap into it anyway."

The teacher looked into Naruto's eyes. There was the hint of scheme there, but not a lie. "Do you know how to fight in Fox Form? I don't want you getting hurt trying to fight in a form you're not used to."

"He can fight just fine." Kiba said, getting impatient for his next fight. "He trained his Fox Form Taijutsu with our Inuzuka dogs. My Mom trained him herself."

"Oh, then that's okay then. Naruto, you may fight as a fox." Iruka smiled. Mizuki just scowled and rolled his eyes. It didn't matter which form he beat the kid in, actually, this was better! Now he could hurt the beast in the same form he had hurt others! Mizuki and Naruto stepped into the ring and Naruto transformed into his Fox Form and got into a stance like a wolf about to pounce with his teeth bared.

"Begin!"

Mizuki smirked and charged forward at speed that no Academy Student could match and threw a punch that could easily break the boy's jaw. Naruto ran forward, running beneath the punch and under Mizuki's legs. Once he was behind the man, Naruto quickly whipped his tails around, tripping Mizuki with one tail and smacking him into the ground with the other eight. Embarrassed and cringing at his now cracked ribs, Mizuki got back to his feet and actually examined Naruto closely. Unlike when he had transformed in the classroom, he was not the size of a small horse, but rather the size of a dog. The furious Chunin had to admit, Naruto was smart to pick a smaller, faster form that Mizuki would have a hard time to hit.

Before Mizuki could attack again, he suddenly felt something warm on his ankle. Looking down, he saw the ends of one of Naruto's tails coming out of the ground and wrapping around his ankle. "Oh crap!" he cursed, but it was too late. With a might roar, Naruto swung his entire body, dragging Mizuki into the ground where his tail exited, through the tunnel he had dug and out the hole where the tail had entered, before releasing his hold at the apex of the throw, launching Mizuki into the trees at the edge of the Training Yard.

Iruka and the students looked awe-struck as they waited for Mizuki to pull himself from the tree he had struck. Once it was clear the man was conscious, Iruka smiled. "Winner: Naruto Uzumaki! A well fought battle! It wasn't quite the Taijutsu fight I had hoped to see, but it showed intelligence. Good work."

Naruto grinned and thanked Iruka before trotting over to stand with the other Boys that won their first matches.

The Second Round of fights began with Sasuke VS Choji, but it ended almost as quickly as the previous fights, as Choji was no match for Sasuke, whom seemed even angrier after watching Naruto defeat a Chunin, even if he used a trick to do it. The next fight and the one to decide who would fight Sasuke in the final round was Naruto VS Kiba.

It was a longer battle than the last one, but not by much. Kiba and Naruto had sparred plenty of times during their training with Tsume, but Kiba could never beat Naruto in Fox Form as the boy's close resemblance to his family's dogs made Kiba reluctant to fully attack Naruto. Unfortunately for Kiba, his mother hadn't trained that out of him by the time he started the academy, so the battle was quick, with Naruto grabbing a sloppy punch in his jaws and then pulling Kiba to the ground where a swift blow from his hind legs send the Inuzuka skidding out of the ring.

Now it was time for the battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Ever since the massacre two years before, Sasuke had been cold, ruthless and at times, arrogant. If he saw a powerful technique, he would demand he be taught it and if the person refused, he would shout at them and claim they just hated him for being an Uchiha, since the Red-Eyed Copy Cats had not been popular among the Ninja of the village.

Sasuke treated Naruto especially badly, as he blamed the boy for his family's declined power and the resulting failed Coup that had killed them. Only Itachi's constant warnings served to stop Sasuke from seeing Naruto as another target for revenge.

Iruka and the class could feel the animosity as the two boys entered the ring, with Naruto even turning back to a human to "Settle things Man-to-Man" with the Emotionally Unstable Uchiha. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, Iruka brought his hand down.

"Begin!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And Cliffhanger! Ooh, don't I suck? Don't worry though, the next chapter will be a good one!**

 **Next Chapter will be the most Sasuke Bashing, and will also be the chapter where it will end. I'm also planning a better fight for the two; this chapters fights weren't great, but that was because the participants were Academy Students and a weakling Chunin. Battles will get better!**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**

 **Current Harem Suggestions are:**

 **Naruto: Karin (1 Vote), Temari (1 Vote), Ino (1 Vote) and Anko (1 Vote)**

 **Sasuke: Ino (1 Vote), Fem Haku (1 Vote) and Anko (1 Vote)**


	5. Academy: Chapter 2

**AN:**

Here it is, the resolution to Sasuke and Naruto's battle! This Chapter was a fun one to write, so I hope you enjoy!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 2: RIVALRY RESOLVED**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Sasuke treated Naruto especially badly, as he blamed the boy for his family's declined power and the resulting failed Coup that had killed them. Only Itachi's constant warnings served to stop Sasuke from seeing Naruto as another target for revenge._

 _Iruka and the class could feel the animosity as the two boys entered the ring, with Naruto even turning back to a human to "Settle things Man-to-Man" with the Emotionally Unstable Uchiha. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, Iruka brought his hand down._

" _Begin!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

The moment Iruka's words entered the boys' ears, they both dashed forward; slamming their fists into each other. Sasuke was hit in the chest while Naruto took the blow to the face and was knocked off balance. Sasuke recovered first and promptly delivered a roundhouse kick to Naruto, sending him tumbling to the ground. Seeing his chance to end the fight, Sasuke immediately went to kick Naruto out of the ring, but his foot was easily slapped away. Naruto leapt to his feet and flipped over Sasuke, leaving a few scratches on the dark haired boy's shoulders, courtesy of Naruto's clawed fingers.

Both boys were now stood where the other had been when the fight started and both were wounded. Naruto's lip was split from the first punch while Sasuke was tightly gripping the gently bleeding wound on his shoulder. "Damn it, should have known a monster would have claws!" Sasuke spat angrily.

Naruto growled and entered a strange stance that looked like a mix of Hinata's Gentle Fist and Kiba's Inuzuka style. "This is my Fox Paw Style, which I created by adapting the Hyuga and Inuzuka style!"

Sasuke looked momentarily impressed before dropping into his Interceptor Style. "Well, let's see if its any match for my style!" he said, making the first move.

The two boys exchanged a rapid flurry of blows, with neither gaining a clear lead. The Fox Paw Style used Naruto's palms to deliver light blows that injected a small amount of his chakra into the foe, similarly to the Gentle Fist, but unlike that style, the Fox Paw Style didn't close tenketsu, but rather disrupted the target's chakra. It was most effective against Ninjutsu and Genjutsu users, but in a Taijutsu Match with an inexperienced ninja, the disruption to their chakra would disorient them enough to leave openings that Naruto could exploit. The Interceptor Fist, however, was designed with the Sharingan in mind and was used to find the smallest weakness in the target's stance before exploiting it.

Despite both styles being powerful, they were unsuited to the current battle, as Sasuke was not inexperienced enough for the Chakra disruptions to disorient him, and without the Sharingan, Naruto's tiny openings could not be spotted by anyone below a Jonin. And so the exchange of blows continued for several minutes until Sasuke, growing frustrated, overextended a blow to Naruto's shoulder. Naruto rolled with the blow, allowing it to push him into a spin which added momentum to a double palmed strike against Sasuke's side, which pushed him out of the ring.

The Clan Children cheered while the Civilians looked on in shock, with Sakura loudly complaining that Naruto's claws must be a jutsu. "The Winner is Naruto Uzumaki! For those arguing about his claws; like his Fox Form, those claws are a natural part of his body. To ban him from using them would be like banning you from using your fingers. Now Boys, form the Seal of Reconciliation." Iruka instructed, smiling at Naruto.

Naruto nodded and walked over to Sasuke, whom was still stood awestruck where he had been pushed. The blonde boy offered his fingers to form the seal, but Sasuke had other idea. Rapidly forming handsigns, Sasuke leapt back and roared " **Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu**!".

The Fireball burst from Sasuke's mouth and engulfed Naruto. Sasuke frowned as he remembered the look Naruto gave him; it was not a look of surprise or anger but...disappointment. For a second, Sasuke felt ashamed, but that was cleared when Iruka shouted. "Sasuke!? What have you done!?"

"This isn't over! I refuse to lose to a monster!" Sasuke roared. Just then, the fireball was knocked skyward, revealing Naruto in dog-sized Fox Form, the look of Disappointment still in his eyes.

"Iruka-sensei, please allow us to continue this fight." Naruto asked evenly, not looking away from Sasuke's eyes.

"No way! This is an Academy Taijutsu Spar, not a Death Match!" Iruka yelled.

Naruto gave Iruka a pleading look. "Please Iruka-sensei! If we don't do this now, these bad feelings will just fester! I won't use any killing blows, and even Sasuke kills me, it doesn't matter; I'm a Tailed Beast, I'd just reform!"

Iruka scowled and was about to argue when Mizuki, still wounded, put a hand on his shoulder. "Iruka, we should let them do this." he said, barely hiding his hope for Sasuke to kill the boy. "If those feelings fester in Naruto like he said, he'll become like the Nine Tails again!"

Naruto bit back a growl at Mizuki's intentions, even if the corrupt Chunin was helping him, it didn't make Naruto feel good knowing WHY he was helping him. Iruka on the other hand still looked reluctant, but he didn't move to stop Sasuke when the Uchiha moved in the another attack.

Sasuke was wielding two Kunai now and he proved adept at using them as he attacked Naruto like a whirlwind of blades. Naruto dodged backward and carefully weaved his tails around the other boy's swings before suddenly striking each of Sasuke's wrists with a small burst of chakra from the end of his tails, forcing Sasuke to drop his Kunai. With himself outmatched in Taijutsu and Naruto immune to Genjutsu, Sasuke reverted back to his original plan of attack, which was to shoot fireballs. Unfortunately, Naruto was prepared for this and created his blue fox flames, which absorbed Sasuke's jutsu.

Sasuke scowled and prepared another fireball, but he was interrupted when the blue fox flames changed shape. They all formed into small, ghost-shaped flames complete with small hands and cackling grins. " **Fox Fire Style: Firefly Spirits**!" Naruto roared before sending the Fiery ghosts at Sasuke. The Uchiha was unable to dodge in time and the nine blue projectiles shot through is body, doing no damage but burning away a large portion of Sasuke's moulded chakra.

"What the hell did you do to me!?" Sasuke roared as he tried and failed to form more chakra.

"My Firefly Spirits jutsu is made with Fox Fire. Fox Fire can't burn the physical world, but can burn the spiritual. I burned away your chakra while leaving some of my own in your system. You won't be able to form more until you either force my chakra out, or I remove it." Naruto said, turning back to his human form.

Sasuke screamed and cursed as he desperately tried to expel Naruto's chakra, but nothing he did worked. Mizuki scowled and left to get his own wounds healed while Iruka and his students looked on with pity as Sasuke tried to get back in the fight. They all knew about the Massacre, and while none but Hinata and Naruto knew the true reason for it, they all agreed that it had deeply scared Sasuke, whom was already emotionally unbalanced thanks to Fugaku's influence.

"Sasuke, that is enough. I'll overlook your blatant attack this time, but I won't warn you again. Now come on, its time to go inside." Iruka said, stepping forward to collect the Uchiha boy. Sasuke promptly ran away, not looking back as Naruto watched with sad eyes. Naruto could already tell by the spots on the ground that Sasuke was crying. With a deep breath, the fox made up his mind.

It was time to end this pointless feud.

Ignoring Iruka's shouts to return and Hinata's worried yells, Naruto raced off after Sasuke. Sasuke quickly noticed his follower and sped up, leading Naruto on a merry chase around the village. The chase led through the Clan District, the Market and even the outer Training Grounds before ending at the top of the Hokage Monument. Sasuke had led Naruto here, knowing that he merely had to leap into the trees below the monument and he would be able to escape the infuriating blonde. "Sasuke, wait! Don't jump!" Naruto cried out, but Sasuke ignored him with a smirk and leapt from the edge of the Third Hokage's stone head, ready to land in the trees below. Preparing for his landing, Sasuke began to channel Chakra to his legs but suddenly froze.

His Chakra was still locked up by Naruto's technique.

In his anger, Sasuke had forgotten that he couldn't mould Chakra right now, and what Chakra had been spared from Naruto's technique was just enough to stop him from being exhausted and nowhere near enough to safely survive this fall. Even if he pushed himself to the point of exhaustion, his legs would still be irreparably damaged; he'd live, but he'd never walk again. Time seemed to stop for the boy as he realised that, no matter what he did, all his ambitions and his Ninja Career would end here. His family would go unavenged and Shisui would go unpunished and why? Because Sasuke had gotten upset during a spar on his first day at the Academy.

' _Maybe it's better to just let it end. It's not like I'd ever surpass Itachi anyway, I couldn't even beat Naruto...'_ Sasuke thought as he closed his eyes and waited to embrace Oblivion.

Sasuke suddenly felt an incredible warmth and the feeling of falling ended. For a moment, he thought it was over; that he had died, but that thought was washed away when he heard a crash and a yelp of pain. Opening his eyes, Sasuke found himself at the base of the cliff, surrounded by broken branches. The boy wasn't bleeding and he felt no pain; he could even more his limbs just fine. But how had he survived? Sasuke got the answer when he realised he was wrapped in nine golden fox tails, all connected to Naruto, whom was in his half-human, half-fox form. Naruto's white t-shirt was ripped to shreds and he was covered in cuts and welts that looked like the impact marks of sticks and branches. His legs were folded under him and were covered in ethereal white chakra.

"W-What happened!?" Sasuke yelled.

"Well, when your dumb butt jumped off a cliff, I had to save you! But I panicked and didn't use enough chakra in my legs or save any of my tails for me to land on, so I broke them. I'm just healing them up, I guess being a monster has its advantages." Naruto said with a weak smile, even with his face cut up by falling into the branches.

Sasuke just stared at Naruto. This dopey blonde boy had just nearly killed himself to save him, someone who had viciously attacked him no more than an hour ago. Naruto was covered in cuts and bruises and had two broken legs, yet he still smiled at the one who had caused it and all without a hint of anger or malice for Sasuke.

"Why? Why would you do that!? If it had been the other way around, I'd have left you to die!" Sasuke yelled, pulling himself from Naruto's tails and stalking over to the blonde. Naruto just chuckled, making Sasuke even more confused. "What's so funny!?" he demanded, grabbing Naruto by the collar.

"Sorry, but those are some stupid questions. Of course I saved you! You're a comrade of the Hidden Leaf! Besides, even if I got hurt, I'd heal and if I died, I'd just reform later, so why does it matter?" Naruto asked.

"You idiot!" Sasuke yelled, shaking Naruto, "Even if you reform, do you think life is that easy to just sacrifice!? Do you think you're some kind of hero!? News flash idiot, there's no point saving someone who hates you!"

At that, Naruto's face became a picture of rage before punching Sasuke hard in the cheek. Sasuke recoiled but was caught by Naruto, whose legs had already healed. "Stop being such an idiot! Do you really think its easy to sacrifice my life!? I may heal and I may reform from death, but I still feel pain! And let me tell you, that damn fall hurt like hell!"

"Then why do it!?" Sasuke roared back.

"Because I am a Ninja of the Hidden Leaf!" Naruto declared. "I may not have a headband yet, but I take this seriously. Being a Ninja means being willing to die for the mission, for your village and for your comrades, even if your village and comrades hate you!" a flash of pain appeared in the Blonde's eyes. "Ninja must always be willing to lay down their lives, even if they don't come back after like I do. But since I do come back and since I do heal, I can be the Village's Shield! I can make the sacrifice so my comrades don't have to die, so their loved ones don't feel the pain of their loss. I will bear all their pain; that is my Ninja Way! And let me tell you this Sasuke, while I didn't like the Uchiha and I don't like you, I would have given my life with a smile if it meant saving even a single one of the innocents killed in that thrice damned Massacre! Now, for once in your life, stop being a Stubborn Ass and talk to me! I'm not as stupid as people think, I know people need to talk after suffering a lot of sadness, and I know you haven't talked to anyone! You've just hidden everything behind a façade of anger."

Sasuke fell silent, watching with shocked eyes as Naruto panted; catching his breath and calming his rage. The wounds on Naruto's body were releasing steam as they rapidly healed, leaving his body in pristine condition. "Despite what you've lost Sasuke, you're still alive. You survived all that pain; don't cause yourself more by denying your comrades. Tell me how you feel, and let me help you!"

The Uchiha felt a horrid feeling building in his eyes. It was not the awakening of his Sharingan, no, this was something much more shameful for an Uchiha. These were the hot tears of Grief. After everything Sasuke had said and done to Naruto over the last two years since the massacre, and even before that, the dopey fox boy was still willing to listen to him and was outright demanding that Sasuke spill his true feelings. The look of genuine concern in Naruto's eyes pushed Sasuke too far, and finally, the dam of emotion that Sasuke had built finally cave in.

"I-I'm just so sick of it all!" Sasuke cried, tears beginning to fall. "I spent my whole life trying to earn my father's respect and be as good as Itachi. I even began to hate you because I thought following in my father's footsteps would make him proud of me, but in the end it didn't matter! Now he's dead and Itachi refuses to help avenge him! Mother refuses to help avenge him! I have to be alone because no one will follow my path with me!"

"That's not true Sasuke." Naruto said gently, letting Sasuke go. "Itachi and your Mom just don't want you to go down the same sad path that the other Uchiha did. The Third Hokage told me once that Vengeance is like a curse; even if you fulfil your desire for revenge, it will just pass on to someone else. Sometimes all you can do is just let the pain go. Even if you don't get revenge, think of what you do have! Your brother and mother love you, and even the Civilians praise you and give you everything you could want."

Sasuke scoffed at that, "Sure, the Civilians may love me and think I'm going to single-handedly bring fame to the village, but the Ninja despise me. They all think I'm just going to be another arrogant Jutsu Thief!"

Naruto began to laugh a bit, confusing the raven-haired boy. "What's so funny about that?"

"Well, for me its the opposite! The Ninja of the village love me and think I'm a hero waiting to happen while the Civilians think I'm a monster just waiting to kill them all!" Naruto laughed.

Even Sasuke had to laugh at the irony it. Here they were, two boys that were loved by one half of the village and hated by the other half. They were both praised for things they hadn't yet done and hated for crimes they never committed. "Tch, look at us; the Losers of the Leaf..."

"Heh, you got that right. But still, it's up to us to decide what we'll become. Whether we become heroes, monsters, Jutsu Thieves or something else entirely, it's our choice. But just because it is our choice, doesn't mean we have to make it alone." Naruto smiled, offering his hand to Sasuke. "What do you say? Do you think we could be friends?"

Sasuke looked at the outstretched hand sceptically for a moment, before smiling. "I guess I could agree to that. I've never really had a friend before, so you'll need to show me how its done." he grinned as he took Naruto's hand. "That is, if you're up to the challenge Foxy."

"Heh, any time Broody." Naruto grinned. "Since we're friends now, I want to show you a secret! Can you keep a secret?"

Sasuke nodded. "Hey, if you promise not to tell anyone that you saw me cry, then I'll keep any secret you want."

Naruto chuckled and directed Sasuke to follow him back to the top of the Hokage Monument, though not before removing his chakra from Sasuke's system. Once they reached the top, Naruto put his hand on the top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head and channelled some chakra. An intricate seal appeared for a moment before a large square piece of stone rose out of the statue head and moved aside, revealing a tunnel into the mountain. "It's in here! This is my sanctuary! Only Hinata-chan, Old Man Hokage, Uncle Hiashi and Auntie Tsume have been in here." Naruto explained as he motioned for Sasuke to follow.

"This is a weird place." Sasuke commented as they walked down the dark hallway, using a ball of Naruto's Fox Fire to light the way. At the end of the hall was a strange wooden door, coated in seals and talismans. Naruto gently bit his thumb and wiped a bit of blood on the door, which then preceded to vanish like it was never there. Following the blonde into the dimly lit chamber, Sasuke gasped at what he saw.

The room held two strange trees; each with the trunk hollowed out and filled with resin which had hardened into Golden Amber. Inside each tree; sealed within the amber, was a human being. One was a red haired woman and the other was a blonde man that looked eerily like Naruto.

"Well Sasuke, let me introduce you to Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki; my parents."

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: Dun dun duuuunnnn! So, Sasuke meets Naruto's still comatose parents. I hope you guys liked the fight and the talk between the two afterwards!**

 **Next Chapter will complete the meeting and will have Sasuke reveal his new and improved self to the rest of the village.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**

 **Current Harem Suggestions are:**

 **Naruto: Karin (2 Vote), Temari (2 Vote), Ino (2 Votes), Fu (3 Vote), Hanabi (1 Vote), Fem Haku (1 Vote), Tayuya (1 Vote), Samui (1 Vote), Kaguya (1 Vote), Konan (1 Vote), Shizune (1 Vote) and Anko (3 Votes)**

 **Sasuke: Ino (3 Votes), Fem Haku (1 Vote), Samui (1 Vote), Karui (1 Vote), Kurotsuchi (1 Vote) and Anko (2 Vote)**


	6. Academy: Chapter 3

**AN:**

A lot of stuff is planned for this chapter. There will be a Council meeting and a bit of Council Bashing, so if you like that sort of thing, then this should be fun! Also, we get to see Itachi and Kakashi again!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 3: THE NEW SASUKE UCHIHA**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _The room held two strange trees; each with the trunk hollowed out and filled with resin which had hardened into Golden Amber. Inside each tree; sealed within the amber, was a human being. One was a red haired woman and the other was a blonde man that looked eerily like Naruto._

" _Well Sasuke, let me introduce you to Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki; my parents."_

 **XOXOXOX**

Sasuke didn't know whether to stare and the two crystallised humans or their Tailed Beast son. The boy didn't know how to react to friends in normal situations, so how the hell was he supposed to react to something crazy like this!? Then suddenly, the names Naruto had said clicked in his head.

"Wait, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki? Those are their names?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yep! My dad is the Fourth Hokage, but that's a super SSS Rank Secret, so don't tell anyone! And my Mom used to be an amazing Kunoichi with a really cool bloodline ability! She could make chains from her chakra! I've been hoping I'd get that power too, but it hasn't shown up yet."

"I can't believe it… You're the kid of the Fourth Hokage and my mom's old teammate..." Sasuke muttered, now officially dumbstruck. If he hadn't already been through an emotional roller coaster that day, the Uchiha doubted he would have believed this was real.

"Oh yeah, Auntie Hikari said that she used to be on a team with my mom and your mom. They were supposed to be one of the only All Kunoichi Teams in the Leaf Village." Naruto grinned as he wagged his fox tails.

Sasuke smiled. "Heh, my mother is always telling me stories about how crazy Kushina used to be. I know I can't tell anyone about your dad, but can I at least tell mom about Kushina? It would make a good peace offering when I go to apologise to her."

"My mom is known to the Council already, so I think that'll be okay. What do you need to apologise to your mom for?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty much the whole last two years. Mom and Itachi were mourning too, yet I acted like a brat to them. I also made an ass of myself to the council more than once, so I'll need to apologise to them too. Though I bet the Civilians will just say that I did nothing wrong." Sasuke muttered, feeling suddenly bitter about the Civilians of the council. He had started feeling it after Naruto told him how they treated him. _'Is this feeling empathy for a friend?'_ he thought.

"Well, I've got to report to the Council this afternoon anyway to let them know how my first day went. They always want to know everything about my life, with me being a "Precious Treasure" or a "Wild Beast" depending on who you ask. But you can come with me if you want." Naruto offered.

Sasuke nodded. "With everything that happened, classes must be over by now. Do you want to head straight to the council?"

Naruto grinned mischievously. "Yeah, and I have an idea for welcoming the council to the chamber… And you're gonna help me!"

The Dark Haired Boy paled at this. "Why do I get the feeling that I've just walked into a dangerous situation…?" Naruto just kept laughing as he led Sasuke out of his Parents' Stasis Chamber.

The two boys ran to the Hokage Tower, making sure that no one saw them as they snuck in and up to the Council Chamber. As expected, it was empty since there was still a good few minutes before the council was due to gather. "Perfect. Hey Sasuke, I'm gonna teach you something really cool! Trap Storage Seals!"

"Trap Storage Seals? You didn't show anything like this in the Assessment." Sasuke said, tilting his head quizzically.

"Well, a Ninja has to keep some secrets! Plus, when I use them for pranks, I can deny any knowledge of it. Anyway, they're pretty simple; just paint the seal onto a surface, place what you want to seal in it on top and then add Chakra! Then when you form the Release Handsign, the seal with release the item it stored!" Naruto explained before showing a drawing of the seal to Sasuke.

Sasuke examined it closely for a few minutes before nodding. "Okay, I've got it. But what are we gonna put in them?"

Naruto smirked and revealed a handful of small bomb like objects. "These are my Naruto Special! Here's what we're going to do; paint the seals on the ceiling above the Elder Council, Civilian Council and Jonin Haruno's seats. I've got something else planned for the Clan Heads and the rest of the Jonin, so I'll handle them!"

Sasuke nodded and took the Naruto Special Bombs and some Ink and a Seal Brush from Naruto. The Uchiha didn't know where he got these from, since they'd never fit in the Blonde's green shorts and his shirt had no pockets. Ignoring this for now, Sasuke got to work on his part of the prank. It didn't take him long and once he'd finished all the seals and placed the bombs in them, Naruto did a couple of handsigns and made both his and Sasuke's seals vanish. The Uchiha boy was about to comment on this when he noticed black ink on the end of each of Naruto's tails.

"You write seals with your tails?" he asked.

"Yep! With Nine tails and two hands, I can make eleven seals all at once! Besides, my Tails are steeped in Tailed Beast and Uzumaki Chakra, which makes them great for seals! That Brush I gave you was made from the fur on my tails too, Dattebayo!" Naruto grinned, letting his vocal tic out again. He didn't do it often any more thanks to a bit of training from Hiashi, but it still came out when he was excited.

Sasuke looked at the brush in his hand, and sure enough he could see some familiar gold colouring beneath the ink on the brush. He offered it back to Naruto but the Tailed Beast Boy shook his head. "Consider it a gift." was all he said before directing Sasuke to follow him out of the room.

After waiting on the roof of the Hokage Tower for fifteen minutes, an ANBU with a cat mask appeared before the idly chatting Naruto and Sasuke. "Naruto Uzumaki, the Leaf Council requests your presence." she said.

"Thanks Neko, I'll head there now." Naruto smiled. Neko nodded and disappeared in a flicker. "Well Sasuke, ready for the show?"

"Heh, this should be good. What's the signal for me to release my seals?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

"It'll be when I say: Cake. If I say that word, drop the seals." Naruto grinned like a Cheshire Cat. The two boys excitedly ran to the council chambers, pausing so that they could compose themselves and not give away their plan. "All right; Show Time!"

Naruto pushed open the doors and walked in, Sasuke following close behind and shutting the doors behind him. Not only was the entire council gathered, but Mikoto Uchiha, Hikari Hyuga, Iruka Umino and Mizuki were all waiting as well, likely to hear about the fight between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hey everybody, how you doing?" Naruto said cheerfully while Sasuke gave a polite bow to the council.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, its good to see you and Sasuke-kun in good condition. When I heard about your little spat, I was a bit worried." Hiruzen said with a Grandfatherly smile.

"Ehehe, no need to worry Gramps! We're both just fine! Our first day at the Academy was...a piece of CAKE!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Sasuke formed a silent seal behind his back, releasing the seals above the Elders, Civilians and Haruno. The seals appeared before dropping the Naruto Special bombs on the heads of their victims. Each one suddenly transformed into a fully iced layer cake, which splattered onto the heads of the council. Outraged yells followed this as the Clan Heads, Hokage and Jonin suppressed their laughter.

"Oh Naruto..." Hikari muttered, trying to keep her own laughs in.

"You damned brat! Have you no respect for those above you!?" Jonin Haruno spat, wiping the cake from his purplish-pink hair.

"Actually, I think you'll find Naruto was not the maker of those seals." Danzo said with a small smile as he stood up, suspiciously cake-free unlike his fellow elders. He revealed the bomb in his hand, which he had caught before it touched him, and then with skill gained through decades of training and experience, he flicked the bomb directly at Sasuke. Sasuke yelped as the bomb exploded in his face, covering him in cake.

Naruto, Mikoto and Itachi all openly laughed while the Jonin and Clan Heads had to try even harder to hide their mirth. "Okay, I guess I deserved that..." Sasuke frowned, as he pulled cake from his eyes.

"Indeed you did. I must say, I never expected you to help with one of Naruto's pranks." the Hokage smiled.

"Well… It is the nature of a Leaf Ninja to help their friends, right?" Sasuke said with a faint blush under his mask of cake.

Itachi beamed at his little brother and Mikoto looked ready to cry from happiness. Even without Sasuke saying more, they knew what this meant. After two years of misery, they finally had their Sasuke back!

"Wait, Uchiha-sama really did help make these damned things? I can't believe that!" Homura growled.

"Well Naruto made the bombs, Sasuke helped make the seals. It was his chakra that made them and he was the one who released them." Danzo said with a laugh. Secretly, he was elated! With Sasuke and Naruto now friends, if Danzo's plan to keep Naruto loyal ever failed, they'd have an Uchiha close to him that could hopefully tame him.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Naruto said, activating his own seals. A series of small pops could be heard and a single rose fell onto the desk in front of each of the clan heads and friendly Jonin.

"Ever the showman, eh Naruto?" Kakashi said with an eye smile as he threw the rose at Naruto's feet. The others followed suit and Naruto bowed like an actor on a stage. At a bit of urging, Sasuke rolled his eyes and joined in.

"If your ninja career ever fails, at least you have a good back up as a Stage Magician!" Sasuke teased.

"Yes yes, this little show was amusing, but it is time to get serious. Naruto, clean up." Hiruzen ordered. Naruto simply nodded and formed another handseal. Instantly, all the cake and roses transformed into a single leaf each, which Naruto quickly dashed about and picked up. At Sasuke's curious look, Naruto grinned.

"It's my **Fox Transformation: Leaf Charm**! I can turn leaves into anything I want by pouring in some chakra. Pretty cool, huh?"

With the leaves gathered, Hiruzen had Naruto describe everything that happened on his first day at the Academy, from the introductions to the assessment tests, to the fight with Sasuke and what happened afterwards. He only left out the visit to his Parents' Stasis Chamber, but he did mention telling Sasuke who his mother was, which made Mikoto ecstatic. Sasuke looked disappointed and regretful through much of report, though he perked up when Naruto said that he and Sasuke were now good friends.

"I see, you had quiet the day. Iruka, Sasuke-kun; anything to add?" Hiruzen asked, keeping a neutral expression.

"No, Hokage-sama, Naruto told you everything. Though I will say that seeing Sasuke now compared to how he was earlier, it is hard to believe they're the same person! He seems genuinely remorseful." Iruka said.

"I see. And Sasuke-kun, do you have anything to say for yourself? Even if you made up afterwards, you did attack Naruto-kun outside of a sanctioned match and that is a serious offence." Hiruzen said firmly.

The Civilians began to look panicked. They didn't want to see their hero being punished just for attacking the demon boy! "Hokage-sama, surely given his emotional trauma you can forgive this, can't you? We all know that is was the Nine Tails that began the unrest with the Uchiha which led to Sasuke-sama's suffering, so is it any wonder he attacked the creat- err, boy?" Haruno said.

"That is not an excuse!" shouted Sasuke, much to the council's surprise. "Naruto is not the same Nine Tails that caused the Uchiha's problems. He even told me that he'd have given his life to save the innocents slaughtered by Shisui! Naruto is a ninja of the leaf and my friend, so I won't let you treat him like a monster!"

Naruto smiled broadly and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Thanks Sasuke, that means a lot to

me."

The Civilians were too shocked to argue against Sasuke, and both the Clan Heads and the Friendly Jonin began to wonder if they had misjudged the young Uchiha. "Sasuke." Itachi began. "Does this mean you have let go of your hatred?" he asked hopefully.

"I-I can't say that I don't still hate Shisui. It still hurts so much whenever I think about what he did! But… It's not right to act the way I did. I am sorry. I am truly sorry for everything I have done." Sasuke said, bowing his head to the entire council. "Please, forgive me."

Mikoto couldn't keep her emotions inside any more and burst into happy tears as he ran forward and embraced her son, whom for the first time since the massacre, returned the hug with tears of his own. Hiruzen sighed and shook his head, relieved that Sasuke was not being consumed by hatred any longer. The old man just wished it hadn't taken a fight with Naruto to snap him out of it.

"Sasuke." The Old Hokage began. "I visited you before you signed up for the Academy. I asked what you would do with the skills you cultivated as a ninja. Has that answer changed?"

Still in his mother's grasp, Sasuke nodded with a new, determined look. "Yes, Hokage-sama. I still want to hunt down Shisui, but not for revenge. I want to bring him back to the Leaf to face justice for what he's done. And, I want to fight and grow stronger so that I can protect the village and my friend. Naruto's got it in his head that he can just throw his life away all the time to save others, so I'm going to get stronger so he doesn't have to get himself killed."

Naruto laughed a bit, but gave a grateful smile to his new friend. "Thanks Sasuke. And you don't have to worry; when you go after Shisui, I'll be right by your side!"

"If its the two of you, I think you may actually succeed." Itachi said, imagining how powerful the two would be. "Madara Uchiha was immensely powerful when he used the Nine Tails as a tool. Imagine how great the two of you will be fighting as friends instead of as a Master and his Slave." That thought made them both grin. The idea of being stronger than one of the Legends of the Leaf was an amazing one indeed.

"Well, considering everything that has happened, I think I will leave Sasuke's punishment to Iruka and his mother. The attack may have been a serious offence, but since it led to a good outcome, I will forgive it this time." Hiruzen declared, effectively silencing any and all arguments that may have been forming.

Iruka, with Mizuki trailing behind, approached Sasuke with a small smile. "Normally, you'd be in detention until you made Genin for this stunt, but like I said earlier, I will let you off with a warning. Study hard and be a good student Sasuke, and you too Naruto. I'm going to be expecting a lot from you. Oh! And after the Assessment Test, the two of you are tied for the Top Shinobi position, and Hinata is currently occupying the Top Kunoichi position; you should be proud Hyuga-sama."

Hiashi and Hikari both wore proud smiles as the nodded their thanks to the departing teacher. Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't so glad… "Damn! I was supposed to get Ramen with Hinata-chan after class! I forgot all about it! She's going to be so mad..." he said fearfully.

"It can't be that bad. Hinata seemed pretty even-tempered to me." Sasuke commented.

"Oh no Sasuke, you have no idea how worked up my eldest daughter can be when she gets mad!" Hiashi grinned, knowing he was teasing Naruto. "I passed her on the way here and she did not look happy."

Naruto went white as a sheet and bolted out the door. Sasuke just stared and the smoke he'd left in his wake before the Blonde boy suddenly ran back and grabbed him. "If I'm getting it from Hinata-chan then so are you!" Naruto declared before dragging the Uchiha off with him to meet their fate. The parents among the council laughed to themselves. Oh to be young again.

When Naruto and Sasuke reached the Hyuga Compound, they found a Hyuga Maid playing with a little girl with long brown hair and cute round face. "Naru-kun, Naru-kun!" The two year old Hanabi shouted, running over to the Blonde boy. "Nata-nee-chan's mad at you!" That made Naruto gulp. If even little Hanabi could tell Hinata was upset, then Naruto's goose was cooked.

"Now now Hanabi-chan." Came a sickeningly sweet voice from inside the house. "You don't want to spoil the surprise now, do you?"

Naruto and Sasuke paled as Hinata walked out into the yard, wearing a smile that meant something very unfortunate was about to happen. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, let's have a little talk." Hinata said, activating her Byakugan.

The two boys' screams could be heard throughout the village for a long time afterwards...

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: Ha! Now that Naruto and Sasuke are friends, they have to share Hinata's wrath! Sasuke bashing won't exist past this chapter. The next one to both receive it and be redeemed will be Sakura.**

 **Fair warning for Sakura fans; she will be getting pretty heavily bashed until her redemption chapters, but her behaviour will have a damn good reason behind it.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**

 **Okay, normally I'd have the Poll here, but due to the fact I've been getting more votes than I ever expected (thanks guys!), and I write these chapters a good few days in advance, it has become too much to update every chapter with every vote, so I will only be adding the Poll to the first and last chapter of every Arc.**

 **Characters eligible for pairings are literally every Canon Character, though Haku will be the only eligible Gender Swapped Character, since I prefer Haku as a female rather than a male.**


	7. Academy: Chapter 4

**AN:**

This will be the last of the Major Time skips before the Shippuden Time skip. Also, for those asking, the first official girl to be added to each of their harems will be decided at the end of the next arc, once a romance has been made official between Sasuke and Sakura.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 4: GRADUATION DAY PART 1**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Now now Hanabi-chan." Came a sickeningly sweet voice from inside the house. "You don't want to spoil the surprise now, do you?"_

 _Naruto and Sasuke paled as Hinata walked out into the yard, wearing a smile that meant something very unfortunate was about to happen. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, let's have a little talk." Hinata said, activating her Byakugan._

 _The two boys' screams could be heard throughout the village for a long time afterwards..._

 **XOXOXOX**

Since that busy first day at the Academy; Iruka's class of Ninjas in Training steadily moved through the next five years at the Academy. Just like with every generation of students, many of the Civilian children dropped out, until of the five starting classes of thirty students each, only a single class of twenty remained. Iruka had been the most popular teacher with the students that year, so he was selected to run the class and he certainly rose to the challenge. The Jonin were claiming this was the most talented class since the village's founding!

Naruto and Sasuke's friendship had been going strong through the last five years, to the point that they were best friends and it was rare to see one without the other. Hinata also welcomed Sasuke into her group of friends (after showing him exactly why the Hyuga were so feared!)

To Sasuke's surprise, he actually found it easier to get along with the other students and had fully integrated with Naruto and Hinata's friends among the clan children. He liked Hinata for not crowding him and acting like a Fan Girl, he reluctantly had fun with Naruto's pranks and on top of it all, he had an eager sparing partner in Kiba. Shikamaru, Choji and Shino all got along with the boy as well, with Shino being the one who spent the most time with Sasuke other than Naruto, but the Nara and Akimichi boys preferred the sometimes lazy and sometimes gluttonous Naruto.

The girls of the class, sans Hinata, had eventually divided into two fan clubs for Naruto and Sasuke, with Sakura and the Civilian kids making up Sasuke's Fan Club and the children of Ninja making up the Naruto Fan Club. Ino had started off in the Sasuke Fan Club, but had quit her antics after Naruto told her that Sasuke only liked strong and serious Kunoichi.

Training-wise, things hadn't changed much from the Assessment on the first day, at least in terms of the rankings. Naruto and Sasuke were still tied for the top spot among the boys, with Kiba trailing behind (two strong rivals had motivated him to up his Academic studies), while Hinata had never wavered from her top spot among the girls. Though Ino and Sakura gave it their best to pass her, leading them to be tied for second place. It hadn't been easy maintaining the top spot for Naruto, whom was constantly sabotaged by Mizuki and a few of the teachers from the special classes which had been paid off by fear-mongering civilians. Still, he had persevered and with Hizashi Hyuga helping to tutor the boy, Naruto had even kept high marks in the Written parts of the various tests.

Finally, after all that training, the day they were waiting for finally came; Graduation Day.

Naruto awoke bright and early and threw on his Ninja Garb; a mesh shirt under a black jacket with the Uzumaki swirl emblazoned in orange on the back, along with a pair of jonin-style blue pants. Naruto had originally wanted an orange jacket and pants, but he had been overruled… Grabbing his weapon pouches from his dresser (he'd stopped sharing a room with Hinata when he turned five), he headed out the door to get breakfast before the Academy.

"Naru-kun!" Hanabi greeted as Naruto entered the dining hall. The now seven year old Hanabi had grow a fair bit taller and now wore black training garb.

"G'morning Hanabi-chan! You still itching to start the Academy?" Naruto grinned as he sat beside the young Hyuga.

"You bet! Father finally convinced the elders to let me go! I'll start as soon as your class graduates." Hanabi smiled. At that moment, the door slid open again, revealing Hinata. Now twelve years old, Hinata had started developing, much to her embarrassment, so she hid her figure beneath a cream coloured and fur-lined jacket. She also wore the same kind of blue pants as Naruto, though they were darker and a little shorter.

"Good morning Naruto-kun, Hanabi-chan." she greeted. "Mother and Father apologise, but they won't be joining us for Breakfast. Apparently they are still in talks with the elders."

Naruto scowled. He knew what these talks were about. Ever since Hanabi had been revealed as a prodigy in the Gentle Fist, many Elders had tried bullying Hinata into giving up her title as heiress so "the stronger daughter" might lead the clan. Of course with Naruto backing her up and the other clans backing him, the Clan Elders could do nothing to force the issue, though they still made it their life's mission to interfere with everything. And in truth, Hinata was stronger than Hanabi by a large margin, but their spars always ended in draws due to her reluctance to hurt her little sister.

"Forget those old geezers. We need to get ready for the Graduation Exam! But as soon as we're Genin, I'm leaving itching powder in their laundry again!" Naruto declared, earning giggles from the girls and some snickering from the Branch members whom were also having their breakfast.

Naruto and Hinata finished their food and with a goodbye to Hanabi, raced for the Academy. As usual, Naruto took on his Fox Form and had Hinata ride on his back so they'd be there quicker. In the last five years, Naruto's full sized fox form had grown and was now as big as a two-story house, so he had to use his smaller forms when running about the village.

When they arrived, they found Sasuke and Shino waiting for them in silence. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, they headed into the class and waited for everyone to gather. At 9AM exactly, Iruka walked in and started the class.

"Okay students, this is officially your last day as members of my class. Some of you will pass onto the Genin Rank while others will need to join next years group to get another chance at it. I hope you've been practising!" Iruka smiled.

The first part was a written test, which Mizuki handed out. In the past, Mizuki had tried casting a Genjutsu or Transformation on Naruto's tests so that he would misread the questions and give wrong answers, but Naruto was immune to Genjutsu and he could always feel the chakra in the transformations and dispelled them. But this time, Mizuki thought he'd finally get the boy. He had gone to the Shinobi Archives and asked for a copy of a previous year's Jonin Written Test under the guise that he was going to study it for his own eventual promotion. And of course, that Jonin Test would now be given to Naruto.

The Fox boy could feel Mizuki's intentions as he handed Naruto the paper and it took less than a second for him to figure out that he'd never pass this test honestly. Now if only he had some stealth skills like some kind of Ninja…

Naruto snorted to himself. " **Fox Ninja Art: Familiar Clone** " he whispered. He felt one of his tails slip away from his being and form itself into a small golden fox with a single tail. Waiting for an opening, the fox dashed out the door. It headed to the Shinobi Archives and found the answer key to the test and began reading it. Unlike a normal Clone which was Illusory or a Shadow Clone that needed to be dispersed to pass on its knowledge, his Familiar Clone kept a telepathic link with the original. The downside to the jutsu was only being able to make one clone for each tail he had, and since he had to maintain at least one tail to keep himself alive, Naruto could only make eight of these clones. Now all that remained was to put on a show of struggling, to make sure Mizuki didn't notice anything fishy. Formulating a special plan to further embarrass the Chunin, Naruto made another clone and sent it off on its own mission.

Once the test was over, the Familiar Clones slipped back in and merged with Naruto again. Mizuki collected the papers and left Naruto's on top so that Iruka would fail him first. Unfortunately, it wouldn't go as planned. "Wait a moment… Mizuki, I think you gave Naruto the wrong test. This is way too high level for even the average Chunin." Iruka commented. "But wait a second… these answers look… Naruto! How do you know some of this stuff?"

"Oh you know Iruka-sensei..." Naruto gave a grin at Mizuki, "I like to hang around the Shinobi Archives. I guess Mizuki just wanted to test if I'd been learning anything there. Here's my real test." Naruto said, producing the correct test from under his desk with all the answers filled in. His second clone had stolen it from the Teachers Lounge and rapidly filled it out while he worked on the Jonin test.

Mizuki scowled as Iruka took the real test and graded it. "Good Job, 98pts! I'll also see about grading the extra paper during the break. Maybe you'll get some extra credit." the scarred teacher smiled. That really pissed Mizuki off, but he just sat back and waited. There were more tests to come and more ways for Naruto to fail.

After a few minutes of grading (Iruka was a master at this), their sensei announced the scores. Sasuke had beaten Naruto with 99pts, Sakura had gotten a perfect score of 100pts, Hinata had gotten 99pts, Kiba had managed to sneak in a pass with 56pts, Shino scored 98pts like Naruto, Shikamaru had gotten 74pts (without actually trying), Choji managed 67pts, Ino was able to reach 91pts and lastly Sai got the minimum 51pts he needed to pass. Sai had been ordered by Danzo to become Dead-Last so that he would be placed on a team with the Rookie of the Year, which would almost certainly be Naruto or Sasuke. With the test scores read out, everyone prepared for the Bukijutsu test, with many students hoping to make up for their failed written tests with good scores here.

After the Nine Tails Attack, the Leaf Council had ordered an expansion in many Academy Courses to better prepare them for future incidents, and one of those was the upgraded Bukijutsu course. Every student was required to learn Shurikenjutsu and at least one other weapon style of their choice. This made the weapons test a bit hard to grade, but thankfully, the weapon tutors had all been given the day off for the test. First came the Shurikenjutsu test; simply hit as many of the Eight Kill Spots on the mannequin as you can. Of the ten most talented hopefuls, the lowest score was Kiba with 4/8 Shuriken hits and 6/8 Kunai hits. Sai matched him and everyone else was able to get at least 6 hits with each weapon. Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto all got perfect scores thanks to their skilled eyes and their practice.

Next was the specialised weapon test. To pass, the student's tutor must rank their skill to be at least Low Genin Level. Sai was first and reached Low Genin Level with the Tanto from an ANBU tutor. Then came Shikamaru, whom used Trench Knives to Low Genin Level, much to the annoyance of his tutor; Asuma Sarutobi, whom knew he could do better. Choji used a Bo-Staff similar to his father's while Ino used a spear, and both managed High Genin scores from Choza Akimichi. Shino opted to use two miniature crossbows that were hidden in his sleeves and was able to use them to High Chunin level thanks to his father, Shibi Aburame's tutelage.

Kiba and Naruto went next, since they had chosen the same weapon; Clawed Gloves, since they complemented their fighting styles. Tsume Inuzuka had been their tutor, though it was Hana, Kiba's sister that had come to judge them in the place of her mother. Kiba went first and donned his gloves, which were bigger and bulkier than Naruto's. In mere seconds, he shredded the target dummy and left only a tattered pile of wood and cloth. He was scored as a Low Jonin with them by his sister, whom looked fairly proud. Naruto went next and his gloves were much smaller and only had metal parts on the actual claws and a single plate on the back of the hand. Despite the smaller size, Naruto was able to wield them just as well and he joined Kiba with a Low Jonin score.

Hinata went next and her weapon was a bow, which she had trained in with her mother. Another Hyuga was here today to judge her, since Hikari was busy with the Clan Elders, but it didn't matter to Hinata; present or not, she'd make her mother proud. Wielding her Ivory White Bow, Hinata dashed around the target dummy and riddled it with arrows. Three hit the head at different angles, two hit the throat, two more hit the heart, one hit the back (which would have severed the spinal cord) and a final arrow hit the dummy below the belt, which made the boys in the class shudder. She was scored at High Chunin, which Hinata was happy to accept.

Sasuke and Sakura were the last of the skilled students to show their skills. Sasuke had opted to learn swordsmanship, specifically with a Chokuto style blade, from Hayate Gekko and he had taken to it like a fish to water. He was able to destroy his dummy with precise and high speed strikes, leaving no wasted moves, which earned him a Mid Jonin level skill. Sakura, on the other hand, had surprised many when she revealed that her skill with twin tantos held in the reverse grip managed to get her a High Chunin score from her Uncle Kisuke, whom watched with a stoic expression as the pink haired girl sliced apart her dummy. The rest of the students either managed Low to Mid Genin level, if they passed at all, with katanas or dual blades, which had been chosen because they looked cool, and not because they complimented the students style.

Many students who had done badly in both the Written and Bukijutsu tests were allowed to leave at this point, as they wouldn't be able to make up enough points in the last four tests to pass. Genjutsu was by far the hardest test for most of the students, as much of this generation had little talent for it. Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Shino were all able to cast Genjutsu of their own and could escape Iruka's genjutsu within three seconds. Shikamaru, Choji and Sai were able to break the jutsu within five seconds and Kiba took eight, while everyone else took at least ten seconds if they managed to break out at all. Naruto, of course, was immune to the Genjutsu, but since he couldn't cast one either, he was given a high, though not a top score.

Fuinjutsu was next, and to Iruka's surprise, only nine students were able to pass. Sai purposely flunked this so that Naruto wouldn't suspect Sai's ability if the emotionless boy ever needed to seal him while the clan kids had been given extensive seal training when they helped Naruto with his pranks. Each of them was able to make a storage seal, a smoke seal, a basic explosive tag and a basic chakra sealing tag. Naruto went one further and created a seal that would allow one to store chakra to replenish themselves with later, as well as a Gravity Seal and Paralysis Seal. Sakura did the second best in sealing, which surprised Naruto, since the pink-haired girl rejected any of his attempts to help her. Perhaps her uncle trained her?

The Lunch bell rang and everyone went out to eat, with Naruto and the Clan Children grouping together to eat as usual, with Sakura and Sai tagging along.

"Man, these tests are so boring. I was hoping they'd be a little more exciting." Kiba said, Akamaru barking in agreement.

"The best tests are after lunch; the Ninjutsu and Taijutsu tests." Sasuke said with a grin, looking forward to having a rematch with Naruto in the Taijutsu tournament. He felt it would be a good way to show how far he'd come from the first day.

"Yeah! I can't wait! Its been ages since we've had a good fight!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, you've fought each of us at least once in the last week." Sai helpfully pointed out.

"A week is a long time for me Sai! And besides, what was with you flunking the Fuinjutsu test!? I showed all of you how to do those seals like a hundred times." the blonde grumbled.

"Hmph! Don't flatter yourself fox boy! I passed all on my own." Sakura sneered. "Right Sasuke-kun?"

Much of the group scowled at the girl. She was always fawning over Sasuke and pretty much did nothing else, aside from badmouthing Naruto. No one knew why she had such an axe to grind with the loveable prankster; unlike some of the other kids who hated him, she had no relatives that died in the Nine Tails Attack; she wasn't born until a month later and her parents had died in a construction accident a year after. Sasuke had tried to use her love for him to correct her behaviour, but it never worked. It was a shame too, since if Sakura was nicer to Naruto, Sasuke would probably have asked her out. She was a fairly strong Kunoichi after all, and he thought she was pretty cute.

Sasuke just sighed and ignored her while the conversation picked up again. After the lunch hour was up, Iruka called everyone back and told Naruto that he had gotten a perfect score on the Jonin Test, though Naruto asked that he not get Extra Credit. He didn't need it and it would be unfair to his friends, plus it pissed of Mizuki!

"The next test will be the Ninjutsu Test. We're having it outside since I bet a few of you will go overboard like in the last assessment." Iruka said, giving pointed looks to Sasuke and Kiba, who had nearly burnt down the building and had blown a hole in the wall respectively. Everyone eagerly ran to the Training Yard and quickly showed off the Three Academy Jutsus; Substitution, Clone and Transformation. Naruto's test was a little different, but that was simply because he had too much chakra to use the normal clone and transformation, so he instead used his Familiar Clones and his **Fox Ninja Art: Soul Transformation** , which was a solid version of the normally illusory transformation.

But then came the fun part of the test.

"Okay everybody, now we'll do the Extra Credit portion of the test. Anyone with extra Ninjutsu to show can perform them to earn extra points. This won't effect if you graduate, but it may influence your final ranking in the class." Iruka explained. Eagerly, the Rookie 10 stood up and prepared to show their jutsu. For the most part; it was simply the clan children demonstrating their family jutsus, but there were a few additions.

Instead of activating and using her Byakugan, Hinata flew through a series of handsigns before declaring " **Water Style: Water Swallow**!" and shooting a series of small water birds from the ends of her fingers. The water birds shot towards the target before swooping at the last second and flying around the target to land a blow from the back. Sasuke decided to simply obliterate the target with **Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu** , leaving nothing but a pile of ash. Sakura further surprised everyone with **Ninja Art: Scattered Sakura** , which took cherry blossom petals that Sakura threw and turned them into razor blades. The jutsu shredding the dummy as effectively as Naruto and Kiba's claws had.

"Whoa, that was awesome Sakura." Naruto praised, extending the proverbial olive branch.

"Hmph, beat that, you monster!" Sakura sneered as she went back to fawning over Sasuke. Naruto huffed and stepped forward. He thought for a moment before smirking.

' _Well, she did tell me to beat her...'_ he thought.

Naruto changed into his Fox Form and flared his chakra, startling the class and putting both Iruka and Mizuki on guard. "Let me show you what a Tailed Beast can really do!" he roared, before gathering his chakra at the tip of each of his tails. Miniature Tailed Beast Bombs began to form on the end of each one, which further scared the onlookers, but Naruto simply smirked. " **Tailed Beast Art: Nine Tails Gatling**!" he roared. In an instant, countless smaller blasts of chakra shot from each Tailed Beast Bomb and sent them crashing into the entire field of dummies, vaporising each one and leaving a small crater where they used to be.

Panting slightly at the exertion, Naruto dismissed the bombs and turned back to his human form before walking over to Sakura. "Well Pinky, how was that?" he asked with a cocky smirk.

"N-Naruto! What was that!?" Iruka asked, looking between the boy and the destruction he caused.

"Oh that? That's my current trump card! I gather chakra at my tails, like if I wanted to make a Tailed Beast Bomb, then fire it off in small bursts! Since my chakra is always connected to me, I can direct each mini blast! Takes a lot of concentration though..." Naruto explained.

Iruka just sweatdropped. It was a good thing he had Naruto go last…

"W-Well, never mind that for now. I think it's safe to say you all passed. Now, lets head over to the Sparring Ring for the final test; the Taijutsu Test!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: Well, that's the end of the first part. The second part will cover the Taijutsu test, the official graduation and the Scroll of Sealing.**

 **A brief note on each of the Rookie 10's Weapon Skills. I tried to give each student a weapon that I felt suited them or complimented their style of combat. Some are obvious, like Sasuke's sword or Naruto/Kiba's claws, but others are a little more obscure.**

 **Shikamaru uses Trench Knives since he used them to great effect in the Hidan/Kakuzu fight in canon. Choji uses a Bo-Staff like his dad. Ino uses a spear because I thought it would be interesting and I have a few ideas for it later. Shino has the mini-crossbows, since I felt he would use a more, assassination/sniper style weapon that he could keep hidden. Hinata uses the bow, because I have an idea for a Long-Range gentle fist style. Lastly, I gave Sakura twin Tantos to further her eventual use of Medical Ninjutsu and the Chakra Scalpel.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**


	8. Academy: Chapter 5

**AN:**

And now, we have a more action heavy chapter! Also, I had planned for the Scroll of Sealing event to happen in this chapter, but it went on too long, so we'll get it next chapter instead.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 5: GRADUATION DAY PART 2**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Oh that? That's my current trump card! I gather chakra at my tails, like if I wanted to make a Tailed Beast Bomb, then fire it off in small bursts! Since my chakra is always connected to me, I can direct each mini blast! Takes a lot of concentration though..." Naruto explained._

 _Iruka just sweatdropped. It was a good thing he had Naruto go last…_

" _W-Well, never mind that for now. I think it's safe to say you all passed. Now, lets head over to the Sparring Ring for the final test; the Taijutsu Test!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

It had finally come; the Taijutsu Tournament for the Graduating Class! Unlike the tournaments for the first couple of years at the Academy, this one would be a mixed gender tournament, so boys and girls would be fighting each other, not that anyone cared; they'd been sparring with each other for the last three years, and even longer for those who were friends outside the Academy like the Rookie 10.

The First Round was, for lack of a better word, lacklustre.

There were twenty students in the graduating class and with half of them being the Rookie 10, it was a landslide. Even Sai, who should have thrown his fight, couldn't bring himself to lose to the pathetic showing of the Civilian he'd been matched with. It wasn't until the second round that things got interesting!

The first match was between Sasuke and Ino. The Yamanaka Girl, eager to prove her strength to her crush, fought hard with a style based around strong kicks and using her long hair to blind Sasuke. The Uchiha was fairly impressed and even got a few bruises from Ino's surprisingly hard legs, but in the end, Sasuke's superior skill shone through and he winded Ino with a gut punch before roundhouse kicking her out of the ring, winning him the match. Once the fight was done, Sasuke smiled at Ino, "That was a good match, Ino-chan. You've gotten stronger." he said politely, making Ino blush and Sakura fume.

The second match was Kiba VS Shino. It wasn't a hard fought battle, since Kiba was a Taijutsu specialist and Shino was more of a hide and sneak attack type, but he managed to hold his own and earned himself some claw wounds for his effort before he lost. "Unfortunate." was all the Aburame said.

The Third match was Hinata VS Choji and was like watching a dainty princess take down a raging bull. Choji threw his whole body into every one of his heavy punches and kicks, but Hinata danced through the blows and gently struck various points on Choji's body, draining his stamina before delivering a single palm thrust to knock him out of the ring. It took a few moments before Choji recovered enough to know he'd lost, but when he did he congratulated Hinata and took his loss well.

The Fourth Match was Sakura VS Sai and it wasn't really much of a fight. Sai still needed to hang back to be named dead last and Sakura displayed a shocking amount of skill, especially considering she had never been great at Taijutsu. Sai meekly defended a few blows and threw a couple of token punches before allowing himself to be knocked out of the ring. He did make one crucial mistake though; he rolled with the final blow just enough to negate most of the force of Sakura's punch. Normally it wouldn't have mattered, but Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata were known for having sharp eyes and they all noticed and were giving the pale boy suspicious looks.

The final match of the second round was Naruto VS Shikamaru and the lazy boy was considering the pros and cons of surrendering. Its not like he hadn't already passed with the scores he'd gotten on the other tests, so did it really matter? Naruto sensed Shikamaru's intentions and gave him a foxy grin. _'Damn troublesome blonde. Pulling faces like that makes it really hard to let him down… oh well.'_ the Nara thought before stepping into the ring. Shikamaru's fighting style had been shaped around boxing, since it complimenting the Trench Knives he used, but it was not a good match against Naruto, whom was less direct in his blows and relied on trickery. Naruto opted to use his Fox Paw Style, which he had refined in the last five years to even more closely resemble the Hyuga Gentle Fist. The main difference now was that Naruto relied a bit more on force, since he didn't have the pinpoint accuracy of the Byakugan. Shikamaru lasted a good five minutes, which surprised even himself, but in the end he was left too numb from Naruto's chakra infused palm strikes. As soon as Naruto had struck his arms again and left them too numb to move, Shikamaru surrendered. Fighting Naruto might not have been as painful as fighting the other skilled students, but it was still uncomfortable.

"Well done to all of you." Iruka said, clapping as the five Round two winners stood before him. "Now, since there are five winners, one of you will be paired with Mizuki in round three. If the one who faces Mizuki wins, then we'll have three people in Round four, so I'll fight the extra. Then the winners will fight in the finals. Do we have a volunteer to fight Mizuki?"

Naruto smirked, but Sasuke beat him to it. "I'll do it. I want to test my skill against a Chunin." he said simply, hiding his real intentions. Sasuke was a sharp young man and he didn't miss what Mizuki had tried to pull in the written test. This would be his chance to have a little fun with the fool.

"Okay then. Sasuke will face Mizuki, Naruto will face Sakura and Hinata will face Kiba. Sasuke and Mizuki will go first!" Iruka declared.

Mizuki smiled as he entered the ring. He planned to throw the fight, since he knew Naruto would beat Sakura and would be forced to either fight Sasuke or Hinata, which Mizuki thought would distress the boy. Oh how surprised he would be in the coming minutes…

As soon as Iruka began the match, Sasuke dashed forward and kicked Mizuki hard in the balls. The Chunin went bright red as he fell to the floor gasping, before being kicked in the face, then gut punched and finally picked up and thrown out of the ring like a trash bag. Iruka and those outside Naruto's circle of friends looked horrified at the Uchiha's brutality, while those who liked Naruto laughed and applauded.

"Well, that was disappointing. I expected more from a Chunin. He wasn't even half as good as Naruto and Kiba." Sasuke said, rubbing salt in the wound. Iruka just sighed and propped Mizuki against a tree; there was no permanent damage so he decided to just leave his fellow teacher to wake up on his own.

"Next, Naruto VS Sakura!" Iruka called. The Blonde and Pinkette stepped into the ring, wearing matching smirks.

"Ready to lose, you monster?" Sakura taunted.

"Ha! I'm not even going to need my Fox Taijutsu here. I'll fight you with the Academy style." Naruto shot back, taking the familiar stance of the Basic Academy Style. Most of the students, including Sakura, had either abandoned or altered the Academy Style into something that suited them better since anyone with five minutes of experience could destroy the Academy Style.

Losing to it as a Genin Hopeful would be very embarrassing…

The fight began as Sakura leapt at Naruto with a high kick. Naruto blocked it and delivered a couple of basic jabs to Sakura's torso, but she shook them off. She was very resilient for a twelve year old girl, even a Ninja one. Naruto smirked as Sakura charged him again, using a high speed flurry of punches to try and overwhelm Naruto. Sakura's fighting style was designed to knock out the opponent as quickly as possible with heavy strikes to their vital areas, but the Academy Style was designed to teach Ninja in training how to protect those areas and combined with Naruto's natural hardiness, Sakura couldn't break through.

"Damn it, how are you so tough!?" she yelled, nursing her bruised knuckles.

"I train my body by fighting multiple tough opponents at once. I've been getting the crap kicked out of me by Hinata, Sasuke and Kiba since we started training! Compared to those three, your attacks might as well be a gentle breeze." Naruto smirked.

Sakura saw red, how dare this filthy monster look down on a human like her!? She'd make him pay for that! "I'M GOING TO KICK THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!" she roared, leaping high in the air to deliver a drop kick to the top of Naruto's head.

"You can try." Naruto replied, taking the blow without blocking, dodging or even reacting. "But it won't be today."

Sakura looked stunned that Naruto took her attack, and it left her open to a counter attack. Naruto gave her a quick jab to the thigh, then a follow up kick to the top of her right arm before delivering a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking her out of the ring. Sakura fell to the ground stunned. She hadn't just lost to the Monster, or to the Academy Style; she'd also lost to the very first combo that every student learned and forgot as they advanced.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka declared, making Naruto's friends cheer as he gave a little bow. He went to help Sakura up, but she looked away from him, her eyes hidden by her hair but tears clearly seen running down her cheeks before heading over to stand by herself.

' _I get that she doesn't like me, but crying over a loss like that is weird. And what's with those weird feelings? Doesn't feel like any hatred I've felt before.'_ Naruto thought as he went to watch the match between Hinata and Kiba.

Sasuke had also noticed Sakura's strange behaviour and felt a twinge in his chest. He wanted to go over and comfort her and he knew it would likely make her happy, but his pride and friendship with the Nine Tails stopped him. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to extend kindness to those that hurt Naruto, especially those that had no real reason to hate him.

Ignoring the Pink Haired girl, everyone turned to watch the Hyuga Heiress fight and ultimately defeat the Dog User. Kiba's style was very similar to Naruto's Fox Form fighting style and Hinata had practically spent her whole life sparring with the gold fox, so Kiba wasn't too difficult for her. Still, she was gracious in victory and Kiba took the loss well, though he swore he'd beat her next time. Then it came time for Round 4, and Naruto volunteered to fight Iruka, since he didn't want to risk fighting both of his best friends on the same day.

Iruka stood across from Naruto and couldn't contain his proud smile. The boy had really grown on him, and had even bowed to Iruka and apologised on the behalf of his predecessor for killing Iruka's parents. After that, Iruka began to see Naruto as like a little brother and regularly joined him for Ramen at Ichiraku's. Naruto also saw Iruka as one of his older brothers, along with Itachi and Kakashi.

"Okay Naruto, which style are you going to fight me with? I know that the Fox Paw isn't your only one." Iruka smiled.

Naruto grinned. "Heh, should've known I can't sneak anything past you Iruka-sensei! The truth is, I have three styles! Fox Paw is meant for more defensive combat and to defeat enemies with minimal harm. But my Fox Claw Style is based on the Inuzuka style and is much more aggressive! Think you can handle it?" the boy asked with a teasing smirk.

The scarred teacher nodded and entered a Chunin Combat stance. "Come at me!"

Naruto didn't need to be asked twice as he dropped into a copy of the Inuzuka Style Stance and attacked with a series of rapid slashes. Iruka back-stepped to avoid the swinging claws before sidestepping around the advancing boy and aiming a chop to the back of his neck. Naruto flipped and kicked at Iruka's hand; cutting it with the claws on his toes. Iruka cursed himself for forgetting that all of Naruto's nails, not just the finger ones, could sharpen into claws but he wasn't given the time to dwell on his mistake as Naruto put his hands on the ground and spun himself around, striking Iruka's right side with a devastating Spin Kick. Iruka took the first couple of blows, but when Naruto started to slow down, he suddenly grabbed the boy's ankle and lifted him into the air. Naruto squirmed in the air for a moment, weighing his options before deciding to swing himself at Iruka slashing at his chest, cutting through his vest and just barely scrapping the skin beneath it. The sting of the light cuts made Iruka flinch and loosen his grip, allowing Naruto to strike the man's fingers with his free foot, forcing him to drop the boy. Iruka recovered and kicked Naruto hard before he hit the ground, sending him flying. Naruto would have flown out of the ring, but he managed to dig his claws into the ground at the last minute, leaving him doing an awkward handstand at the edge of the field.

"Nice try Iruka-sensei, but I'm not done yet!" Naruto shouted, before leaping to his feet and running at his teacher on all fours like a fox. He went to slide between Iruka's legs to strike him from behind, but his sensei was prepared for this and slammed his palm down on Naruto's side as he slid below him. Naruto cried out, but kicked himself back to his feet and swung at Iruka with his right hand. Iruka easily dodged back, but Naruto went with the blow for a moment before bending his arm and hurtling himself backward into Iruka with his elbow. Iruka blocked it with both hands, but the force of the blow pushed him back a bit before Naruto leapt away to gain distance.

As Iruka watched Naruto pant, he saw a smirk cross the boy's features. Looking down, he could see why. That last blow had pushed him back just enough for him to be out of the ring. "Well, it was a fairly hard fought match, but it looks like you win Naruto. Good job!" Iruka smiled, ruffling the blonde's hair.

Naruto bowed with a big grin before running over to his friends, whom all praised his victory. Naruto didn't like to be arrogant or cocky, but he couldn't deny that after all the insults the village threw at him, he enjoyed being praised for his skills. Still a bit sore from the wounds inflicted by Naruto, Iruka moved back to his place beside the ring and called the next match, which was between Hinata and Sasuke.

The two Dojutsu users moved to the ring and gave each other a respectful bow before entering their family stances. In the recent years, Hinata has been training with her mother in a variation of the Gentle Fist Style, known as the Gentle Wing Style, which focused more on large, sweeping movements instead of jabs and palm strikes. It was just as effective as Gentle Fist if the user had the necessary flexibility. The Hyuga Elders didn't like it, but Hinata and Hikari agreed that they could go to hell.

"Begin!" Iruka called, and in an instant, the two Genin hopefuls closed the distance and began rapidly exchanging blows. Hinata was the faster of the two, but Sasuke was stronger and hit harder, which worked against Hinata since her weakest area was her Physical Endurance. Since Sasuke hadn't unlocked his Sharingan yet (much to his annoyance), Hinata always refused to use the Byakugan, but since both their fighting styles relied heavily on their dojutsu, both were at a disadvantage.

"How do you think this is going to go?" Kiba asked his friends.

"Sasuke is really tough, but I think Hinata-chan will win." Naruto answered.

"I'm not so sure." Shikamaru said. "Sasuke has had more experience using his Style without the accompanying Dojutsu, not to mention Hinata has had less experience with her newer style. I think it'll be close, but Sasuke will get the win."

Ino grinned. "Wow, should I invite you to the Sasuke Fan Club, Shika?" she teased.

"Troublesome Blonde… I'm merely stating the most likely outcome from the information I have at hand." the lazy boy replied.

Just as Shikamaru had said, Sasuke began to claim a slight lead on Hinata, slowly pushing her back. Deciding it was all or nothing, Hinata prepared her newest technique.

" **Gentle Wing: Four Feather Dance**!" she yelled before leaping at Sasuke with her arms held out like wings. Chakra in the shape of feathers lined the underside of each arm and she swung them at Sasuke's four limbs. The chakra feathers acted like like blades attached to Hinata's arms and completely shut off the Chakra flow to each of Sasuke's limbs.

"Damn it!" Sasuke growled as he lost feeling in all his limbs. "When did you learn that!?"

Hinata began panting hard. "I-I learned it while training with mother. Its an early answer to the **Eight Trigrams: Four Palm** move. Unfortunately, it takes a huge amount of both Chakra and control..."

Sasuke nodded. "Well it was a great move. But I'm afraid this fight is over now. RAAAAHHHH!" the boy roared as he forced chakra back into his limbs; shattering the blocks that Hinata had placed on his chakra network. "I've been practising methods of forcing out foreign chakra since my fight with Naruto on the first day. It takes almost all my chakra to do it, but at least I can move now. Now I'll show you my technique!"

"O-Oh no!" Hinata cried, unable to move from the exhaustion of her last move.

Sasuke leapt in the air and called out " **Uchiha Style: Heavenly Talon**!", before focusing all his remaining chakra into his right leg and descended down onto the field with his right foot extended and his left foot tucked beneath him. Naruto and the others watched with horror; if that move hit Hinata, she could be seriously hurt! Sasuke knew this, and instead of aiming directly for Hinata, he aimed at the ground just a couple of feet in front of her. He smashed into the ground with huge forced, creating a crater and a shock wave that blasted the weakened Hinata out of the ring.

"Winner: Sasuke! We'll have a short break so Sasuke can recover a bit before we move on to the last round." Iruka instructed as he watched Sasuke and Naruto rush over to help Hinata up, which made Sakura more than a little jealous.

' _Why does Sasuke-kun care so much about the monster and Hinata? It would make it so much easier for me if he'd just hate them!'_ she thought bitterly.

Meanwhile, with Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto were both praising her on a well fought win, with Naruto gushing over how cool her new move was, and how it made her look a bit like an angel or a swan. Sasuke agreed, though in a more held back way, simply saying that the move was amazing. Naruto used some of his chakra to replenish both Hinata and Sasuke, so that the two boys could fight at full power in their last match.

When the break was over and Iruka called them both into the ring for the final match, Sasuke decided to surprise everyone. "Naruto, I want to fight you in your Fox Form. At least the human-sized variant." he said simply.

"Are you sure about this? My Fox Form is a lot stronger… its not something I like to use in fights with friends." Naruto replied.

Sasuke nodded. "I know, but in this fight, don't think of me as your friend. I want you to fight me seriously as a fellow ninja! And if I'm ever going to be able to call myself your equal, I need to be able to face you at your best!"

Naruto paused for a moment before nodding seriously. It was an unusual expression on the usually jovial Tailed Beast, but if his friend and rival wanted to face him as equals, then he would do as he asked. In a burst of Chakra, Naruto was replaced by his Fox Form, whom from head to toe was roughly the length of an adult male human. His nine golden tails were each as long as his body and swayed behind him.

Iruka watched the boys nervously. The whole class was anticipating a big and showy match and were making small bets with each other over who would win. Many asked Shikamaru for his input, since he had been right with Hinata and Sasuke, but he simply told them that it was impossible to predict with these particular two. Swallowing hard, Iruka stepped forward. "Okay, the final match between Naruto and Sasuke will now….BEGIN!"

Unlike the earlier fights, neither fighter budged an inch other than getting into their stances. Naruto was poised to pounce, with his claws and teeth bared, his fur puffed up and his nine tails all stretching out behind him, spreading out from each other so each tail could be clearly seen. Sasuke took a slightly altered version of the standard Interceptor style Stance, which Sasuke had modified to better fight his bestial opponent. Unlike their first fight, this wasn't going to devolve into a brawl or escalate into a full on jutsu match; this was a simple battle with each fighter expressing a single thought with their entire being.

For Sasuke, this was "I will prove that a human can stand as equal to a Tailed Beast!"

For Naruto, this was "I will fight you with my all, not as a Tailed Beast, but as a Ninja of the Leaf!"

The inevitable clash finally came, with both closing the distance in a single bound. Sasuke struck first; aiming a kick to Naruto's underside with the hopes of knocking him skyward where Sasuke would have an advantage. Naruto avoided the kick and dashed to Sasuke's side, where he could kick at Sasuke like a bucking horse. The kick landed and really did have the force of an angry stallion, but Sasuke channelled a bit of chakra to his side to cushion the blow and stop his ribs from being cracked. With the blows' damage made manageable, Sasuke was able to endure it and grab Naruto's legs with the intent of swinging him around and throwing him out of the ring. Naruto clawed at the ground and wrapped his tails around Sasuke, but the Uchiha was strong enough to removed the fox from the ground and begin swinging him around.

' _Crap, he's gonna throw me out! Think fast! Wait, I know what to do!'_ Naruto thought, suddenly donning a foxy grin. He unwrapped his tails and positioned them around Sasuke, like each one was the fang of a beast and the Uchiha was in its jaws. Focusing chakra to each tail tip, Naruto quickly jabbed the tails into the eight vital points on Sasuke's body, with the ninth being poised to help Naruto catch himself when Sasuke released him. Normally, a blast of chakra to each of the vital points would kill the recipient of the attack, but the chakra was severely scaled back and the tails had only jabbed lightly, stunning Sasuke and making his body spasm for a moment. But that moment was all Naruto needed and Sasuke involuntarily released his prisoner, whom went flying out of the ring.

' _Hope this works!'_ Naruto thought before unleashing a burst of chakra from his ninth tail. The chakra acted like a massive gust of wind and shot Naruto back into the ring even faster than he'd been thrown out. He aimed himself and slammed his head into Sasuke like a human (or Fox) missile. Unfortunately, Sasuke was still stooping down after ejecting Naruto's chakra, so instead of his stomach, Naruto smacked into his head.

There was a resounding DONK! As their heads smashed together and both fell to the ground with swirls in their eyes. Neither moved and after a quick check from Iruka to make sure they were both still breathing, the teacher burst into laughter and announced "Double KO!"

The Class quickly followed him in their laughter while Hinata, Ino and Sakura dashed forward to nurse the boys back to health (or at least consiousness) so that they could all go back inside for the final results of their Graduation Test.

Back in their classroom, Mizuki watched the class while Iruka finished adding up the scores. Only thirteen students had passed and the seven that had failed had already been quietly sent home with an invitation to join the next graduating class to try again. Eventually, Sasuke and Naruto came back to the waking world, though both had splitting headaches and complained about how hard the other's skull was. Truth be told, both were a little disappointed by the outcome of their match, hoping for a clear winner to help them decide who was stronger, but Hinata made the point that since it was a Double KO, they could officially call themselves equals. Both boys were happy to accept that.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of waiting and five minutes after the younger classes had been dismissed, Iruka came back with the results of the tests. All of the Rookie 10 had passed, along with two Ninja Family girls and a single hard-working male civilian.

"Okay, the rankings of this year are, from bottom to top: 12th and Dead Last of this year; Sai. Be sure to try harder in your Genin Training." Iruka began. Sai merely nodded, but had an air of satisfaction around him, knowing he'd done his job.

"11th is Ami Kurosaki. 10th is Fuki Yamamoto. 9th is Kota Hirano." These were the two Ninja family girls and the civilian boy respectively.

"8h is Choji Akimichi." The plump boy looked a little downcast at the low rank.

"7th is Shikamaru Nara." The lazy boy didn't care, ranks at the stage weren't important unless you were the top or bottom.

"6th is Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba growled, he would have gotten a higher score if it weren't for those damned written and genjutsu tests!

"5th is Ino Yamanaka." The blonde scowled, knowing she'd been beaten by Hinata and Sakura. She'd have to try harder and make Chunin before them!

"4th is Shino Aburame." He didn't mind. It was an expected outcome.

"3rd is Sakura Haruno." Sakura went a bit pale at this news. Not only was she not Top Kunoichi, but she'd been beaten by the demon!

"2nd is Hinata Hyuga, who is this year's Top Kunoichi." The Hyuga Heiress smiled and looked to Naruto, whom gave her a big thumbs up.

"And lastly, tied for 1st place is Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, with identical final scores!" Iruka proclaimed. No one in the class had expected anything else, since they'd been tied since the beginning, but that didn't stop a certain vocal Sasuke fan from arguing.

"How did the monster get the same score as Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura yelled, slamming her hands on the desk and making Naruto (who was still in his fox form) wince at the volume.

Iruka sighed and rubbed his temples. "The exact mathematics behind the scores are too complex to go into now, so I'll make it simple. Sasuke was superior in the Written Test, Bukijutsu Test and Genjutsu Test, while Naruto was superior in the Fuinjutsu Test, the Ninjutsu Test and the Taijutsu Test. Does that answer your question?"

Normally, the rest of the class would have left Sakura to her ramblings, but Iruka mentioned something that they all picked up on. "Wait a moment Sensei. Didn't Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun tie in the Taijutsu Test?" Ino asked.

Iruka shook his head. "In the final match positions, yes, but in their scores, no. While both fought well in all their matches, Naruto's victories were cleaner and showed more skill. For Sasuke, he almost lost his match with Hinata and only barely managed to win once she could barely move, and while he did defeat Mizuki, his style in that match was unrefined and amateur, more like a Street Brawl than a Ninja battle. So in the end, Naruto got the higher final score in Taijutsu."

Most of the class, especially Sakura and Mizuki, turned to look at the Uchiha, but he simply shrugged. "I figured Naruto was better in Taijutsu anyway. The guy has three fully developed styles for his human form and an even stronger style for his fox form. I'm happy to come second here."

"Ah, that actually brings me to my next point." Iruka said, pulling out two certificates and a medal. "Normally, I'd give these certificates to the Top Shinobi and Top Kunoichi, with the higher scoring of the two also getting this medal and being named Rookie of the Year. But while Hinata's rank is obvious, for Naruto and Sasuke it isn't so simple."

Naruto raised his hand. "Hey Sensei, why not name me Top Shinobi and make Sasuke Rookie of the Year?"

"You'd be that willing to give up on that medal? You usually love shiny gold things. You're like a Magpie..." Sasuke smirked.

"Hey, I only like shiny gold because it matches my fur! And besides, I mainly want to be Top Shinobi so I form a pair with Hinata-chan!" Naruto declared, trying to keep the faint blush from his cheeks. Hinata was bright red, but at least she didn't faint.

Iruka just chuckled and accepted the compromise, before handing out the real prize of the day; their Hidden Leaf Headbands. The Rookie 10 all grinned wide; they were now officially Ninjas of the Village!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: After my longest ever chapter, we finally get to the end of the Academy! The Academy Arc will still go on for a little longer though, to clear up the Scroll of Sealing, the Team selections and the real Genin exam!**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**


	9. Academy: Chapter 6

**AN:**

Now we reach the penultimate chapter of the Academy Arc. There will be one more before we go into the first Mission Arc!

As a small spoiler; the first mission arc will NOT be the Land of Waves, but it will share some aspects with it. The Land of Waves will be handled by another Team off-screen.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 6: STOLEN SCROLLS AND TEAM FORMATION**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Naruto raised his hand. "Hey Sensei, why not name me Top Shinobi and make Sasuke Rookie of the Year?"_

" _You'd be that willing to give up on that medal? You usually love shiny gold things. You're like a Magpie..." Sasuke smirked._

" _Hey, I only like shiny gold because it matches my fur! And besides, I mainly want to be Top Shinobi so I form a pair with Hinata-chan!" Naruto declared, trying to keep the faint blush from his cheeks. Hinata was bright red, but at least she didn't faint._

 _Iruka just chuckled and accepted the compromise, before handing out the real prize of the day; their Hidden Leaf Headbands. The Rookie 10 all grinned wide; they were now officially Ninjas of the Village!_

 **XOXOXOX**

The Rookie 10 celebrated their newly acquired Genin Rank with loud cheers and uproarious mirth. With the tests done, Iruka dismissed the class and told them to report back in two days for the Team Assignments, which added more excitement to the Genin.

"I can't wait to see our teams! Maybe we'll get put on the same team." Naruto said as Sasuke and Hinata followed behind him on their way back to the Clan District. With the Uchiha Clan Compound no longer being investigated and the repairs complete, the surviving Uchiha had returned to their ancestral home.

"Its possible. The Top Shinobi and Top Kunoichi are always placed on a team with the Dead Last. But since we have an odd number of graduates, we may end up as a four Genin Team." Sasuke commented.

"So it would be the three of us and Sai? I don't mind that, but I wish Sai would be more social with us." Hinata said.

Sai had left the class on his own as soon as he had received his headband and Sakura had vanished somewhere not long after, leaving only the eight clan kids to wander home. As they reached the entrance to the Clan District, Naruto narrowed his eyes.

Mizuki was waiting at the gates of the district.

"What are you doing here, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked, not letting on that he didn't trust the man.

"Ah, Naruto. I was hoping to speak to you in private. Can we talk?" he asked.

The other Clan Genin looked to Naruto with sceptical eyes, but Naruto waved them off. "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up soon."

Mizuki suppressed a smirk as the other Genin just shrugged and left, leaving Naruto to follow Mizuki to the roof tops nearby. "So what did you need to talk about?"

"Well, there is a little extra test for you this year." Mizuki began, trying to form his smirk into a warm smile.

"Oh? But I'm already a Genin. Why would I need more tests?" Naruto asked.

"Well, this is a special advancement test only given to the Rookie of the Year! Sasuke may have been given the title officially, but the Teachers at the Academy agreed you'd be more deserving." Naruto restrained his snort of amusement, but allowed Mizuki to go on. "Anyway, since we have an extra Genin this year, we are offering the Advancement Test to the best Genin; if you pass, you'll be named Elite Genin and added to the team of your choice as a secondary leader with the authority to command the other Genin!"

Mizuki thought he was being clever here. Surely the little demon would do anything to have power and authority over his human peers. Once again, he misjudged the boy's character with his assumptions. Naruto could sense the ill-intent and knew it was all a lie, but he played the part of the eager Genin.

"Wow Sensei, I could be made an Elite Genin? What's the test?" he asked with faux excitement.

"All you have to do is sneak into the Hokage Library and retrieve the Scroll of Sealing located within. You'll need to avoid the ANBU guards, but they've been told to go easy on you. Once you have the scroll, you'll need to take it to the Southwest Checkpoint House in the forest outside the village. Do you know where that is?" Mizuki asked.

Naruto nodded. "Itachi-nii-san told me about it. I'll find it."

Mizuki grinned. "Good. Just get it there before midnight tonight and you'll pass." This was truly the perfect scheme for Mizuki; if Naruto failed, he'd be accused of conspiring to steal a Leaf Relic and no way would the Council believe the demon over a teacher, and if by chance that Naruto succeeded, then Mizuki would get the scroll and be able to kill the demon before leaving the village! It was foolproof!

Unless Naruto had sensed the scheme from the beginning, which he had.

"Okay Sensei, I accept. I'll get the scroll and bring it to the checkpoint before you know it, Dattebayo!" Naruto declared, throwing in his tic for good measure. Mizuki smiled broadly and left, thinking his victory was inevitable, but as soon as the man was out of sight, Naruto created a Familiar Clone to tell his friends the situation while he himself ran off to warn the Hokage.

Naruto was used to just wandering into the Hokage's office whenever it suited him, since he was considered Hiruzen's honorary Grandson, but this time he stopped to ask his secretary. The elderly woman had replaced the last secretary after she'd been rude to Naruto, and the new one was much kinda, being a retired Shinobi. "Hey Granny, I need to see the Hokage. It's really important." Naruto said, surprising the secretary.

The Old woman's eyes widened. If Naruto was actually asking, it must be important. She sent along the message and moments later, Naruto was standing before the Hokage, his own serious expression matching that of the old Sarutobi. "Naruto-kun, I see you passed the exam! Excellent Work, but why are you checking in now? You could have waited for the Council Meeting tomorrow."

"I was going to, but I was on my way home earlier when I came across some moles digging around the foundations." Naruto said.

Hiruzen's face hardened immediately. Moles were spies, and digging at the Foundations meant they were also established Ninja of the village. The Hokage gave a hand sign and five ANBU immediately appeared and activated Privacy Seals around the room before vanishing again."Okay Naruto-kun, tell me everything you know." The Sandaime ordered.

The young fox spent the next ten minutes describing everything about Mizuki's actions in the past, as well as his what he'd said to Naruto about this so called Advancement Test. The Hokage scoffed at that; there were Elite Chunin and Elite Jonin, but no such thing as an Elite Genin…

"Naruto-kun, if Mizuki has been causing you so much trouble, why have you not reported him before now?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well, If I came running to you every time so random idiot was mean to me, I'd never leave your office! Don't forget that aside from the Ichirakus, none of the Civilians like me. I figured I should learn to solve my own problems. But this time, he is endangering not just me, but the Village, so I had to tell you." Naruto replied. Hiruzen gave a sad smile; the little fox really did carry too much on his shoulders.

"Very well, I can respect that. But what to do about Mizuki… He cannot be allowed to get away with this scheme. Naruto, since you were the main victim of his actions, how would you like to play an instrumental role in his capture? I'll pay the wage of an A-Rank Mission and add an A-Rank to your record."

Naruto gained a mischievous smirk. "Well, an A-Rank on my record would be nice, but I don't really need money. I still have two thirds of my S-Rank pay from the Hyuga Affair when I was three."

Hiruzen sighed. He knew where this was going. "Okay Naruto, what would you like instead of the money?"

"Five Jutsu from that Scroll I'm supposed to steal, and the option to pick my teammates." Naruto stated.

"I'll give you one jutsu from the scroll, teach you another jutsu myself and let you pick a single member of your team with the other picked by myself." the Hokage haggled.

"Three Scroll Jutsu, One of your Jutsu and both teammates and you pick the Sensei." Naruto retorted.

"Two Scroll Jutsu, one of my jutsu and ONE teammate. Final offer." the Hokage said. Naruto may have been good, but Hiruzen had over 40 years of politics under his belt; he knew the art of the Haggle.

"Okay, deal. For my teammate, I'm going to pick Sasuke." Naruto said, wearing a contented smile.

Hiruzen nodded and made a note of it. "Why Sasuke-kun and not Hinata-chan?" he asked.

"Well I'm Top Shinobi and Hinata-chan is Top Kunoichi. Those always get put together anyway, so I was just making sure that Sasuke would be with us. Now which Jutsu am I going to get?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm, clever. Now for Jutsu, I am giving you the **Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu** from my own Jutsu Library, and from the Scroll, I'm going to give you a skill I think will suit you; **Shadow Clone Jutsu**. At the moment, you can't make normal clones due to your extreme chakra levels and you lack the training to perform Elemental Clone Jutsus. This only leaves the Familiar Clones, of which you can only make eight. Shadow Clones will be the best for you since not only will they speed up your learning, but you could make thousands with your chakra levels and they are all physical." Hiruzen explained.

"All right! Those sound awesome! But what about the second jutsu from the scroll?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen smiled. "That is a special one. It is one of the rare Light Style, or Yang Style jutsu. **Yang Style: Nine Pillars of Heaven**. It is a jutsu that requires monstrous levels of Chakra that none since the First Hokage have been able to use. It works by using incredible amounts of Chakra and forming it into nine beams of light, which were used to permanently destroy the Eight Inner Gates and Prime Tenketsu. This Jutsu was originally used by the First Hokage to permanently destroy the Jutsu and Chakra abilities of whomever it was cast upon."

"Whoa… why would you want to teach something like that to me!?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Well, for one, you are the only one in the village that could learn it. But there is a more serious reason, or reasons, as the case may be. Firstly, we've been having a problem of criminals escaping in recent years, due to our Prisons being understaffed since the Uchiha Massacre. Normally, we seal the Chakra of prisoners to prevent them using jutsu to escape, but for some reason, more and more people are finding a way to undo the seals. If you learn this jutsu, we may ask you to use it on any Ninja sentenced to life imprisonment, so that they can never use Jutsu again." Hiruzen explained.

The young Tailed Beast scowled. "I don't think I like the idea of being used as some kind of punishment." he said bitterly.

"I am aware. That part of the idea was suggested by the council. You see, we've been planning to have you learn it for a while, to preserve the jutsu's history, but we needed to come up with practical reasons to placate your more vocal detractors on the council. Danzo suggested the Prisoner control idea, while Itachi Uchiha presented another alternative. With this jutsu, you will be able to defeat and capture high-level ninja without killing them, and since we know how conflicted you are on taking a life, we thought it would make a good alternative."

"So, on the one hand I'll be used to keep prisoners from escaping, while on the other I can bring anyone back alive..." Naruto paused. _'With this Jutsu, I could help Sasuke bring Shisui back alive!'_ he thought. "Okay Gramps, I'll accept it. I'll learn those jutsu and have Sasuke as my teammate. Now what do you need me to do?"

Hiruzen smiled and his eyes shone with a scheming glint that would have made Naruto and Danzo envious. The plan was simple; Naruto would spend the afternoon learning the **Shadow Clone Jutsu** and then he'd take a fake copy of the Scroll of Sealing and head to the rendezvous point. Itachi and a small collection of former ANBU which had joined the Uchiha in reforming the Military Police Force would follow him and when Mizuki makes himself known and reveals his intentions, they will swoop in and arrest him. The old Hokage warned Naruto that he'd be telling the other ninja about the scroll being stolen, so that they would make a believable amount of fuss, just in case Mizuki suspected something.

With the plan set, the old Hokage created a Shadow Clone of his own and had it go with Naruto to his parents' sanctuary to learn the first of his new jutsu in secret. It only took Naruto an hour to learn to create Shadow Clones since it was actually a fairly simple technique. It was only used so rarely and labelled a Forbidden Jutsu due to the insane Chakra requirements that could kill the user. At roughly 10PM, the Hokage's Shadow Clone disappeared and Naruto met Itachi on top of the Hokage Monument.

Itachi and his five fellow Police Ninja were all dressed in ANBU uniform, with Itachi himself wearing a Weasel Mask. "Okay Naruto, are you prepared to begin? Hokage-sama won't report the scroll's "theft" until we are out of the village." Itachi explained.

"Yeah, I'm ready. I'll be running in Fox Form to make it look more realistic to Mizuki. Will your friends be able to keep up?" Naruto asked. He wasn't being cocky here; Naruto could easily outrun most Jonin and ANBU when in Fox Form, which is how he got away with so many pranks…

"Heh, of all the ANBU that helped me reform the Military Police, these five are the fastest. They should be able to keep up if you keep it at a reasonable pace." Itachi smiled before retrieving a pair of scrolls from inside a seal. "Here, the big one is the Fake Scroll of Sealing. It contains a trap seal that will tie up whoever activates it, so try to get Mizuki to inspect it to make his capture easier. The smaller scroll is the one containing the Yang Style Jutsu. No one in the village knows it, so you'll need to practice it on your own..."

Naruto nodded and pocketed his Jutsu scroll, while putting the Fake Scroll of Sealing on his back. He then transformed into his Fox form, with the scroll still prominently seen on his back. Normally his clothes vanished in this form, but he could maintain them if he desired. "Okay, let's go!" the fox boy grinned, before leaping off the monument and charging for the rendezvous point at breakneck speed.

It would normally take two hours to reach the Checkpoint House by foot, but with Naruto's speed, they made it their in half an hour. The ANBU hid themselves and Naruto approached the house, were he could sense a familiar chakra. "Mizuki-sensei, I got the scroll!" Naruto yelled.

Mizuki appeared from inside the simple log cabin that made up the Checkpoint. He was fully armed and equipped, with two giant Shuriken on his back. "Well done Naruto, now bring it here and I'll make sure it's the real thing. Just in case you decided to make a fake for the test."

"I've got no problem with that Sensei." Naruto smiled, using one of his tails to hand over the fake scroll. Mizuki grinned widely and took it, before greedily ripping it open. As soon as the scroll was unravelled, a large seal formula appeared and began to glow before doing...nothing. Naruto and the hidden ANBU all facepalmed. It looked like whoever did the seal was out of practice…

"What? What the hell is this?" Mizuki growled, throwing the scroll to the ground. He knew enough about Fuinjutsu to be able to identify a trap seal. "So, you thought you could lure me out and here then capture and kill me? Not gonna happen you little demon!" he roared, pulling the two shuriken from their place on his back.

"Uh, actually I didn't make that seal." Naruto replied with a deadpan expression. "Someone working for the Hokage did it. I should never trust seals that I didn't make myself… oh well. Weasel, a little help?"

Mizuki froze as six ANBU dropped down around him, all with their weapons drawn and pointed at the traitorous Chunin. "Chunin Mizuki," said the Sharingan wielding ANBU between the traitor and the young fox, "You are hereby under arrest for the attempted theft of a Leaf Relic, the attempted murder of a Leaf Shinobi and conspiracy to commit treason. Come quietly or we will use force."

"Whoa there, let's take it easy here, Itachi-sama! Can't you see that I was just here to stop Naruto from leaving with the scroll? The demon was probably going to use its power to finish its predecessor's work and destroy the village!" Mizuki tried to defend himself, but the eyes of the six ANBU turned steely.

"Genin Naruto Uzumaki reported your earlier conversation to Hokage-sama, whom then ordered him to deliver this fake scroll to you to determine what your intentions were with it. Judging by your equipment, you are planning to leave the village. Hawk, search the prisoner." Itachi ordered. The ANBU with the hawk mask stepped forward and quickly took all of Mizuki's weapons and pouches before searching them. There was mostly just ninja tools and travel supplies, along with a copy of an Icha Icha book, at least until they searched the inside pockets of his Chunin Vest.

"Captain; I've found a letter and a Headband bearing the mark of the Hidden Sound Village." Hawk said, handing the offending items to Itachi. The Uchiha Clan Head frowned and flashed his Sharingan over the letter. Once he was satisfied that the letter wasn't trapped, he opened it up and quickly read it.

"My my Mizuki, it looks like we get to add "aiding a known enemy of the Leaf" to your charges. This letter is from Orochimaru, and based on its contents, you have been in correspondence for some time. Men, take Mizuki into custody and escort him to the T&I Department. They'll soon find out why he did it." Itachi frowned. After what happened with Shisui, the new Uchiha Clan Head could not tolerate traitors of any kind.

"You want to know why I did it!? The answer is right behind you! That flea-bitten demon walks the same streets as those it tried to destroy! It eats our food and breathes our air and pollutes this village with its presence! Don't you see he's already infected the Hokage and the Council!? I wasn't about to stay and let him infect me too!" Mizuki ranted. He was quickly silenced by a backhand from Itachi's iron fist.

"Naruto has proven to be a more honest ninja than you in every respect. He has done nothing to hurt this village and has even gone out of his way to help the victims of the Nine Tails Attack, even though he wasn't actually the one responsible. The next time you run your mouth about one of my comrades, you won't see the inside of a court; I'll kill you myself!" Itachi growled, his Sharingan warping to the Mangekyo as he spoke.

The traitor shuddered and fainted at the words of the usually soft-spoken man. One of the ANBU just slung him over his shoulder as they prepared to leave. "Good work everyone. Naruto-kun, I will report everything to the Hokage, so you should go home." Itachi said, returning to his more gentle persona.

Naruto nodded, "Thanks Itachi-nii-san. I knew Mizuki didn't like me, but I'm kinda surprised how much he hated me."

"Hmph, pay him no mind. Traitors will say anything and their words mean nothing. I personally owe you for helping Sasuke when he was at a dark point in life, so I know that you are a good person. Now, run home; I'm sure Hinata-chan is waiting for you."

The Fox boy and the older Uchiha shared a smile before Naruto scampered off home. Just as Itachi had said, Hinata was indeed waiting for him, along with her parents. The blonde explained what had happened with the mission, which hadn't surprised Hiashi, but Hinata and Hikari both hugged him. Finally, after a quick dinner, Naruto bathed and went to bed; exhausted after a long day.

The next day, Naruto went with Hiashi to the Council Meeting, where he was praised for his work in helping capture the Traitor, along with being the Top Shinobi of the year. Some of his more vocal detractors tried to accuse him of cheating, but Iruka had been called to give his own commentary on the Graduation Exam, and he confirmed that Naruto had been completely honest in all his tests, even when Mizuki tried to sabotage him. Iruka even went as far as to apologise to Naruto for not suspecting Mizuki of foul play sooner, but the blonde just waved it off. Iruka and Mizuki had been childhood friends; of course Iruka would be a bit ignorant to his friend's worst qualities. Still, Iruka later took Naruto to Ramen after the meeting, and Hiruzen told Naruto to report to the Sarutobi compound after lunch to begin learning the **Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu**. He did just that, and while this was harder than the normal Shadow Clones, he had it mastered by noon the next day, giving him half a day to hang out with his friends and fellow Genin. Sasuke was impressed that Naruto had gained new jutsu, and all of them, even Sai and Sakura, were very curious about the Enigmatic Yang Style.

Finally, the weekend passed and the Thirteen passing Genin reported to their old classroom for the last time, to be placed in their teams. Iruka smiled a melancholic smile as he saw his former students. "All right everybody, it's been a long five years, but you are all now officially Genin. All that remains is for you to be assigned to teams and given Senseis to teach you. Now, there are two things to mention here; first is that since we have one extra student, one team will have four Genin instead of three. The other is the Specialisation Program."

"What is the Specialisation Program?" Kiba asked.

"Well, since last year, we have not only been assigning Genin to teams, but also to one of the various Ninja Organisations dealing in specialty functions, such as Medical and Tracking. Before last year, the village allowed Chunin to decide which group they wanted to join, but that left us with a surplus in some areas and a shortage in others, so we've begun sending Genin to receive training early. You'll be spending every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, as well as Saturday morning, training with your assigned speciality." Iruka explained.

"Hey, how come we don't get to pick our own?" asked Ami, the purple haired girl from the small Ninja family.

"Partly to ensure the correct balance of numbers for the various departments, and partly to make sure you receive training in areas you have a knack for. Now, Teams 1 through 5, along with Team 9 are still in circulation from last year, and Team 7 has… special circumstances, so we'll be leaving that one to last."

Naruto frowned. He knew that if it had Special Circumstances, it must involve him…

"Okay; Team 6 will be Ami Kurosaki, Fuki Yamamoto and Kota Hirano. Ami, you are assigned to the Torture and Investigations Department. Fuki, you are assigned to the Patrol Corps. Kota, you are assigned to the Tracker Corps. Your assigned Sensei is Doto Akimichi."

The three non-clan children looked at each other but didn't make a fuss. They didn't seem too worried about their assigned departments and liked each other well enough, so there was no trouble.

"Leaving Team 7 to last, I'll move on to Team 8." Iruka hesitated a moment. He knew Naruto wouldn't like this… "Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. Kiba, you are assigned to the Tracker Corps. Shino, you are assigned to the ANBU Hunter Division. Hinata, you are assigned to the Sensor Corps. Your Sensei is Kurenai Yuhi."

Shino and Kiba didn't mind their team, but they were a little worried about Hinata, since she had her heart set on being with Naruto. Hinata was disappointed, but didn't let it show, and Naruto had an eerily calm expression on his face, though everyone who knew him could tell he was planning something nasty for whoever caused this…

Once Iruka was confident that Naruto wouldn't explode, he moved on. "Okay, since Team 9 is still in Circulation, I'll move on to Team 10. Team 10 will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. Ino, you are assigned to the Torture and Interrogations Department. Shikamaru you are assigned to the Strategy and Intelligence Department. Choji you are assigned to the Barrier Corps. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

The three just shrugged. Their team was set in stone from the beginning; they were always going to be the next Ino-Shika-Cho Formation and not only that, but all three had been assigned to the same division as their fathers. Looked like the Apple didn't fall far from the tree… The only thing that interested Shikamaru was that Asuma would be his Jonin Sensei. They'd already formed a good relationship thanks to Asuma being Shikamaru's weapons tutor.

But only four people were left to form Team 7 and everyone was waiting for the inevitable explosion from their resident blonde knuckle-head. Still, Naruto maintained the stiff calmness, which really made him look like a Hyuga.

"Lastly, will move on to Team 7. Since they are the last team, they will be the Four Genin Team, and will also have a second Jonin instructor to help keep up with them. Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Sai. Naruto, you are assigned to the Seal Masters Office. Sakura, you are assigned to the Medical Corps. Sasuke, you are assigned to the Reformed Military Police. Sai, you are assigned to the ANBU Hunter Division. Your senseis will be Kakashi Hatake and Yamato." Iruka finished.

There was a pregnant pause in the room as everyone waited for the inevitable explosion, but yet again it didn't come. Iruka and the rest of the room gave a collective sigh of relief before Naruto shot to his feet, smashed his fist into the desk and roared.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: ooh boy, Naru-chan is not a happy camper. Next chapter will be the meeting with their senseis and the real Genin Test! If all goes well, it should be the last chapter of this arc.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**


	10. Academy: Chapter 7

**AN:**

Alright! This should be the last chapter of the Academy Arc! Stay tuned for the AN at the end to find out what the next Arc is going to be!

 **IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to illness and commitments to family, Nine Tails Incarnate will be taking a short, one week break after this chapter! Sorry to inconvenience anyone, but the next Arc will begin on 12th December 2016!**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 01: ACADEMY**

 **CHAPTER 7: TEAM 7 IS BORN**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Lastly, will move on to Team 7. Since they are the last team, they will be the Four Genin Team, and will also have a second Jonin instructor to help keep up with them. Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Sai. Naruto, you are assigned to the Seal Masters Office. Sakura, you are assigned to the Medical Corps. Sasuke, you are assigned to the Reformed Military Police. Sai, you are assigned to the ANBU Hunter Division. Your senseis will be Kakashi Hatake and Yamato." Iruka finished._

 _There was a pregnant pause in the room as everyone waited for the inevitable explosion, but yet again it didn't come. Iruka and the rest of the room gave a collective sigh of relief before Naruto shot to his feet, smashed his fist into the desk and roared._

" _WHAT THE HELL!?"_

 **XOXOXOX**

Iruka could practically feel his heart leap out his mouth as he looked at the furious face of the Leaf's Resident Tailed Beast. It was rare to see Naruto like this, but he seemed to genuinely be struggling to keep his Human Form, as his slitted eyes, fox ears and nine tails had all appeared, and his nails had sharpened to claws.

"N-Now Naruto, you know that I don't get to decide the teams. They are decided by the Hokage and the members of the Jonin and Elder Councils." Iruka explained, trying to placate Naruto, whom was giving off enough Killing Intent to make even the stoic Shino and Sai sweat.

Without another word, Naruto turned full Fox Form and dashed out of the room at a speed that left him as nothing more than a gold blur. The Genin in the room finally dared to breathe again, with Sasuke adding a sigh. "Well, it looks like we won't be seeing him for a while."

Sakura scowled. "But Sasuke-kun, don't we need to meet our Senseis? They'll be angry if that idiot isn't here!"

"Pfft, Naruto could be three hours late and he'd still get here before Kakashi. Word of advice if you want to survive on this team, Sakura. Get used to waiting a long time for our sensei and be sure not to upset Naruto." Sasuke said evenly.

"What happens if I upset the monster? Will he try to kill me!?" Sakura asked fearfully.

"No, you'll be the victim of every single one of his pranks. Oh, and keep calling him a Monster and Naruto will be the least of your concerns." Sasuke glared.

"O-Okay, Sasuke-kun."

Sai just stared at his teammates. On the inside, even he was wondering why Danzo-sama would allow the Haruno Girl onto the Tailed Beast's team. Danzo-sama had gone out of his way to make sure that the Fox was happy and loyal, so why put him on a team with somebody that despised him? He'd have to ask him later.

 **(Meanwhile, in the Leaf Council Chamber)**

Hiruzen was about ready to smack his head against the desk. If had to listen to one more damned Civilian try to have an older Training Ground demolished and turned into one of his infernal businesses, then the Old Hokage was sure he was going to kill somebody. The Ninja Councils were in a similar position, though Jonin Haruno seemed to be waiting for something with a mildly concerned expression. Hiruzen knew why the normally cold man looked nervous, as the Hokage had been an unwilling participant in the man's scheme. Still, maybe Naruto wouldn't be too upset?

"OLD MAN!"

Okay, nevermind. Naruto was pissed.

Naruto charged into the Council Chamber in full Fox Form, startling the Civilians and making the Ninjas wince as they prepared for the consequences of the Team Selections. "Ah, Naruto-kun. How nice to see you! You know I like to spend time with you boy, but now isn't really the time. We're having a Council meeting here." Hiruzen said, smiling diplomatically.

"I don't care, you've got some explaining to do Old Man! Why the hell was I put on a team with Sakura Haruno instead of Hinata Hyuga!?" Naruto demanded.

"Do you have a problem with me niece, Genin Uzumaki." Kisuke Haruno scowled, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

"Actually, she's the one with a problem with me! She's the only one in the class who not only despises me, but isn't afraid to call me a monster and insult me! Not to mention she's a total fan girl for Sasuke! Besides, she shouldn't be on my team; the Top Shinobi and Top Kunoichi are always paired together, along with the Dead-Last, so why the hell was Hinata-chan substituted for Sakura? And why was Hinata placed with Kiba and Shino?" Naruto asked, his whisker marks starting to look wilder.

Danzo stood up and approached the boy, before putting a calming hand on his head. "Naruto, there are multiple reasons for our decision, but you must be calm. You are a Ninja, not an animal, so please restrain yourself."

Naruto frowned but nodded. He knew Danzo had ulterior motives for treating him well, but he never outright lied to him or tried to trick him, nor was he unreasonable in his requests, so Naruto had come to respect the man as a sort of Great Uncle figure. Heeding Danzo's words; Naruto paused and took several deep breathes, which allowed him to restrain himself back into a calm and controlled Human Form. "Okay, I'm calm now." the boy said, absent-mindedly adjusting the headband on his forehead.

"Good. Now, Sakura was put forward as a candidate for your team by Jonin Haruno. He wanted Sakura to be close to Sasuke Uchiha. We normally would have refused such a request on grounds of it being unprofessional, but Jonin Haruno gave good reasons." Danzo explained.

"What were these reasons?" Naruto asked, glaring at the Haruno man.

"As you said, Sakura Haruno hates you and views you as a monster." Danzo saw the pain flash in the boy's eyes, but continued. "So we thought that if she was forced to spend time with you on a team, then she would come to see your true nature and her hatred would fade away and be replaced by friendship, just as it did for Sasuke Uchiha five years ago. In addition, we've been wanting to create a specialised Hunting and Tracking Team for years and have been testing combinations of skills and clan abilities in each of the previous classes Genin Teams. Since we needed to move Hinata to another team, we placed her with Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka in the hopes that this combination will be more successful. Given their skills, I believe they will be."

Naruto nodded. He had to admit, aside from Jonin Haruno's pointless request, all the reasons he'd been given were good ones. "I suppose I can understand all that. It isn't like I hate Sakura, it's just that she refuses every time I try to make friends with her. By the way, is the Jonin Council different today?"

Naruto had finally calmed down enough to realise that two of the usual faces on the Jonin Council weren't there. "Of course Naruto." Hiruzen said. "We relieved Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi of their council duties so that they could pay full attention to their new teams. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be meeting with Kakashi now?"

The Fox boy looked at the old Hokage with a blank expression. "Uh, it's only been like 10 minutes since we were supposed to meet. We won't see him for another hour at least. And that's only if he doesn't go to the Memorial Stone..."

The Shinobi of the Council all nodded solemnly. They knew of the dark and tragic past that the Copy Cat Ninja had suffered. Now, Kakashi only lived to serve the Village, protect Naruto and pray that Minato and Kushina would one day wake up. Naruto briefly considered going to meet Kakashi at the stone, but decided not to, as he felt wrong being there, as he had never truly lost anyone he loved.

"Well, I suppose I should go back to the classroom and wait with my team. Even if Sakura and I don't get along, I like Sasuke and Sai well enough. Oh, and Danzo, could you tell Sai to stop holding back now? Its getting annoying." Naruto smiled his foxy smile.

Danzo chuckled and nodded. "I will be sure to pass along that message. Remember Naruto, Sai is only there to protect you and Sasuke. He is your link to me at all times, so do not be afraid to ask him for aid."

Naruto nodded and bowed to the Ninja Council before running off, leaving the Leaf Council to get back to the much more boring business of dealing with Civilian affairs. Since it was almost noon and Kakashi was still not likely to be there for a while, Naruto stopped by Ichirakus and ordered some take out Ramen for the team before high-tailing it back to the classroom.

When the boy entered, he found Sasuke and Sai playing Shogi while Sakura watched. "Hey guys, I'm back." Naruto announced, coming in with four steaming bowls of Ramen. "And I bought lunch?"

"Oh, so you resolved you issue from earlier?" Sai asked in a monotone.

"Yep. Your boss, Danzo, told me all about it. Also, he said you can stop holding back now."

Sai's eyebrow twitched and looked to Sasuke and Sakura. The Pinkette looked confused, but Sasuke didn't. "So, you both knew already?"

"Yep! Well, it was more of a hunch. I made a gamble when I talked to Danzo and he confirmed it. Now, I wasn't sure what kind of Ramen you and Sakura like, so I went for the Miso Ramen! Here you go!" Naruto smiled, handing the bowls to his team mates. "And Sasuke, I got the Tomato Ramen for you."

Sasuke smirked and happily accepted the Ramen. He would never admit it to the Fox Boy, but Teuchi's Tomato Ramen, made especially for Sasuke, was possibly his favourite food. "Thanks Foxy."

Sasuke and Sai tucked into their food while Sakura looked at hers suspiciously. "This isn't poisoned or got some kind of laxative in it, does it?"

Naruto gasped backed away from Sakura with a look of mortification. Sasuke just laughed. "Relax Sakura, Naruto would never dare add anything bad to Ramen. He claims its like defiling a sacred temple… or something like that."

"Oh, well, um..." Sakura was struggling to find something to say. "I appreciate the thought, but I'm on a diet, so..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Sai and Naruto looked at her blankly. "Sakura, you are already dangerously underweight for a Kunoichi. Diets are for Civilians that are overly concerned with their looks. Real Kunoichi eat as much as they can and work off the excess. You are a real Kunoichi, right?" the Uchiha asked.

Sakura eeped and then immediately dived into the Ramen, devouring it at a speed that would rival Naruto. Based on the expression on her face, she was enjoying it. Naruto smirked and leaned in to whisper to his friend. "Good job Sasuke. We'll make a ninja out of her yet!"

"Its easy once you get the trick down. Leave Sakura to me; I'll get her to see reason." Sasuke responded.

And so, the four Genin of Team 7 finished their lunch and went back to waiting patiently (or impatiently) for their two Senseis to arrive. Naruto had just assumed that Yamato would be arriving with Kakashi, but he wondered who the man was. He didn't know any Ninja named Yamato, and he knew most of the noteworthy ninja in the village…

Two hours after they'd eaten, Naruto's ears twitched and he looked towards the door of the classroom. "They're finally here. The guy with Kakashi smells strange… like wood and something familiar. I think I know him!" Naruto said, getting to his feet and running to the door. Just as he got there, it opened and two men in Jonin Garb entered the room. Once was the familiar masked man with Silver Hair; Kakashi Hatake, while the other was a man with strange eyes and a headband that stretched down to cover his cheeks.

"I knew I recognised that smell, it's Tenzo!" Naruto grinned as he leapt to hug his former ANBU bodyguard.

Tenzo, now dubbed Yamato, grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Hello Naruto. I apologise for not being around as much, but the Hokage has had me on mission after mission for the last few months. I've been clearing the forests of threats in preparation for the Chunin Exams being held here this year." he explained.

The rest of Team 7 approached their hyperactive teammate and their new senseis. Sai nodded at his teachers (and secretly, his Senpais within the ANBU) while Sasuke waved at Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi. Whose your partner? Naruto seems to know him." Sasuke asked.

"Yo Sasuke. This is Yamato. That's only a Codename though and Naruto knows him by his previous one; Tenzo. He is was once of Naruto's ANBU guards until last year when he was no longer needed." Kakashi explained.

Sakura looked at the strange Jonin whom was still chatting quietly to Naruto. "Why would that monster need ANBU to guard him? Can't he just eat anyone who bugs him?"

"He hasn't eaten you yet, has he?" Sai commented, making Sakura go pale and hide behind Sasuke.

Kakashi, ignoring Sakura's insult, just chuckled. "Yamato didn't just protect Naruto, he was also in charge of reigning him in if he got too excited. You see, due to the actions of a wanted criminal, Yamato ended up with the Wood Style Bloodline. Wood Style is capable of restraining the Chakra of Tailed Beasts, so Yamato was assigned to Naruto in case he got out of control."

"Oh! So that's why we haven't heard about him killing anyone since the big attack twelve years ago." Sakura commented, not realising how much she was pissing off her new senseis.

"Actually, Naruto has never needed me to control him. He gets angry just like any other kid, but he doesn't use violence to solve his problems. He prefers Pranks." Yamato said, gently pulling on Naruto's cheeks.

"Well, we should get to the proper introductions and everything. Meet us on the roof in 30 seconds!" Kakashi said with an eye smile before vanishing in a flicker. Yamato and Sai followed him, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to charge out the door as fast as they could, with Sakura trailing behind.

They only barely made it to the roof before the 30 seconds were up, and poor Sakura was panting desperately as she tried to get air back in her burning lungs. Naruto and Sasuke didn't even look fazed, and they had gone even faster than she had! Once the four Genin sat down around their two senseis, Kakashi gave another eye smile. "All right Genin, we are going to be doing introductions! I will go first. My name is Kakashi Hatake, my Likes and Hobbies are not for the ears of children, my dislikes are nothing worth mentioning and my Dream… is to see two certain people finally return home."

Naruto gave a sad smile of agreement while Sasuke and Yamato exchanged knowing looks. Either way, Yamato was next. "My codename is Yamato. My real name is classified. My likes are gardening, especially bonsai trees. My dislikes are Traitors and Enemy Ninja. My Hobbies are gardening and reading. My Dream is to keep the Leaf Village at peace."

The Genin nodded along. Minus his name, Yamato was pretty standard as a Leaf Ninja. Sasuke was next; "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My likes are Tomatoes and my friends. My dislikes are those that seek to hurt my comrades or my clan. My hobbies are training and playing the occasional prank with Naruto. My Dream is to one day bring my clan's murderer to justice."

Kakashi and Yamato nodded. They'd been briefed on Sasuke plenty of times and knew his lust for revenge had been cleared by Naruto. Sai continued the introductions. "My codename is Sai. I have no real name. My likes are drawing. My dislikes are traitors and enemy ninja. My hobbies are drawing. My dream is to serve the village."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura gave him blank looks. Since he no longer needed to keep his cover as a weakling Genin, he seemed to have even less personality than before… They'd need to work on that. Sakura went next. "I'm Sakura Haruno! My likes, hobbies and dreams are..." she looked at Sasuke with a blush and giggled. "and my dislikes are evil monsters that hurt my village!" she declared, suddenly becoming hateful as she glared at Naruto.

Kakashi and Yamato were a little worried that Naruto would react badly, but he kept his features trained in a blank expression, though he couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes. Still, with it now being Naruto's turn, he snapped back to his cheerful self.

"Hiya, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! My likes are Ramen and all my buddies here in the Leaf! My dislikes are those who call me a monster without getting to know me! Oh, and the three minutes it takes to be able to eat instant Ramen! My hobbies are pulling pranks and training, and my dream is to rebuild my family, restore my old clan; the Uzumaki, and prove to everyone in the world that Tailed Beasts are not monsters!"

The boys of the team all smiled, knowing Naruto's dreams very well after so long knowing him, but Sakura looked...conflicted. Kakashi spotted this and signalled to Yamato to follow him after the meeting. "Okay, with that out of the way, we will be doing the Real Genin Test tomorrow. Meet at Training Ground 7 at 6am tomorrow morning. Oh, and don't eat breakfast or you'll puke. See ya!" Kakashi said before vanishing with Yamato.

The four Genin just looked dumbfounded before deciding to just go home. Sakura ran off to her Uncle's home while Sai reported to Danzo, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to head to the Hyuga compound to wait for Hinata to be done with Kurenai. Kakashi and Yamato watched them from a nearby watch tower, both with matching frowns.

"The Hokage's hunch was right. There was definitely something up with Sakura. Her body language and tone of voice made it seem like she was actively trying to hate Naruto. It was not natural behaviour..." Kakashi said, trying to ignore the circumstantial resemblance between the pink haired girl and his own former teammate.

Yamato just nodded. "It wasn't only her hatred for Naruto that was unnatural. She seemed to be forcing her love for Sasuke as well, though it was much less obvious than with the hate."

"Hmm, that's probably because deep down, she really does love Sasuke, so those feelings have a foundation to build off while the hatred for Naruto doesn't. We're going to have to keep an eye on her. We should also tell the Hokage to keep an eye on Jonin Haruno; he's been a vocal opponent of Naruto for years, so he's almost certainly involved here." Kakashi said, his frown growing. If Kisuke Haruno was poisoning his niece with hatred and forced love, then Kakashi would be sure to make him regret it…

The next day, at five minutes before 6AM, Sakura arrived at the meeting point on Training Ground 7, hungry and tired from both lack of sleep and lack of dinner or breakfast. She thought that by showing up early, she could prove herself as an eager student and someone who was serious about her training, which had the double benefit of making Sasuke like her more.

Of course, she hadn't been informed off Kakashi's notorious lateness and hadn't learned from yesterday. Sai turned up at 6 AM on the dot, only because he didn't have it in him to disobey an order, but it wouldn't be until 8:55 AM that Naruto and Sasuke turned up, chatting quietly.

"Hey, how come you two are so late? Did Naruto drag you around the village Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored her in favour of greeting Sai, while Naruto frowned.

"Stop blaming me for everything. We're late because Kakashi-sensei always turns up at least two hours late, and Yamato-sensei won't show up without him." Naruto explained, his eye twitching a bit.

"Hmph, we should still obey our sensei's orders! You're leading Sasuke-kun astray! And besides, how did you know Kakashi-sensei wouldn't show up earlier?" Sakura growled.

Naruto just sighed and rubbed his temples. This girl was really making it hard to be his usual cheerful self… "First, Kakashi-sensei won't care unless we get here after him. Second, Sasuke does what he wants and doesn't need me to tell him what to do. And third, I have a Familiar Clone watching him to let me know where he is." Naruto explained, making his tails appear and revealing that he only had eight of his usual nine. "We left when Kakashi began to make his way here. He tends to take the long way around, so we beat him here."

Sakura was about to argue, but she was cut off when her stomach suddenly growled, making her blush furiously. Sai didn't react while Sasuke chuckled a bit. Naruto sighed again. "Don't tell me you actually skipped Breakfast."

"Uh, and Dinner too. I was scared of throwing up in front of Sasuke-kun." Sakura squeaked, barely above a whisper.

Naruto scowled and activated a seal on his jacket, causing a still-steaming bowl of Ramen to appear. "Here, this is my emergency Ramen. Eat it so you'll have strength for the test."

"But Kakashi-sensei said-"

"Forget what he said. Look, Kakashi-sensei is basically my big brother, so I know his quirks. One of them is the being late thing, and the other is one of his favourite sayings; look underneath the underneath. Things are never what they seem in the Ninja World. Him telling you not to have breakfast is a way of making this test harder. Now eat, you will need it." Naruto said, not leaving room for argument.

Sakura didn't know what to do and turned to Sasuke, whom gave her a nod of approval, which motivated her instantly. "O-okay. Thanks for the food." she said as she began to eat.

Naruto then turned to Sai. "Sasuke and I ate together with Hinata-chan this morning. Did you eat breakfast?"

"I cannot disobey orders from my superiors." Sai stated simply, meaning he hadn't eaten. Naruto scowled and activated the same seal as before to summon another bowl of Ramen.

"Eat. That's an order from a concerned teammate." Naruto said.

' _Danzo technically gave Naruto and Sasuke the right to give me orders, so I suppose they are my superiors on this team.'_ Sai thought. "Very well. Thank you for the meal." he stated simply before taking the food and beginning to eat.

Ten minutes later, Naruto sealed the two empty bowls back into the seal on his jacket, making Sasuke chuckle. "How much Ramen do you have stored in there?"

"It's not a storage seal." Naruto smirked. "It's a short-range transport seal. Teuchi puts a piping hot bowl on one end of the seal at his shop and I transport it! It only works on inanimate objects and doesn't work if you go too far from the village, but it makes for great food on demand. I just need to settle my tab with him when I next stop by."

Sasuke laughed again. "Only you would use your Uzumaki genius to make a Ramen delivery seal!"

Meanwhile, watching from a tree not far away, Kakashi and Yamato were smirking at their student's actions. "Well, Naruto certainly knows how to work with a team." Yamato commented.

"Like he told Sakura, I'm basically his big brother. Teamwork was one of the first things I taught him and it was the first thing he passed onto Sasuke. Those two should pass fine." Kakashi replied. He had given Naruto's Familiar Clone the slip by using a Shadow Clone. It was hard to do, since Kakashi needed to somehow "transfer" his scent to the clone while hiding his chakra, but the Elite Jonin wasn't Elite for nothing.

"Now we just need to make sure Sai and Sakura will play along. Sai should be fine, since he was briefed by Danzo about you and your methods, but Sakura could be a problem if she refuses to work with Naruto." Yamato added his two cents to the mix.

"Welp, only one way to find out!" Kakashi smiled as he flickered over to the waiting Genin.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted as Yamato landed behind him.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled, making Naruto wince at the volume.

"I got lost on the path of life." the silver haired jonin responded.

Naruto snorted. "No you didn't! You've been watching us from that tree since Sasuke and I got here!"

Kakashi sweatdropped as a Fox Familiar jumped out of the same tree that he and Yamato had been chatting in. Guess he didn't give Naruto the slip after all. "Heh, very good little brother, but now we're going to be doing the real test. Be warned, at least half of all Genin Teams each year fail and are sent back to the Academy, and I have never passed a single team."

Sakura's eyes widened, but when she saw none of the boys reacting, she reigned in her emotions. _'She's learning. Good."_ Kakashi thought as he produced three small bells. Two of the bells were silver and one was gold.

"The test is fairly simple; you have until noon to retrieve one of these bells. At the end of the test, anyone without a bell will fail and be sent back to the Academy! But not before being tied to one of those posts and forced to watch while the rest of us eat lunch while you get none." Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. Understanding flashed across the Genins' faces as they realised why their sensei had tried to make them skip Breakfast. "But that's not all! As you can see, I have two silver bells and a gold bell. Naruto, since you're a Tailed Beast, your test will be a bit tougher. You'll need to get this gold bell from Yamato." Kakashi explained as he tossed the bell to Yamato.

"So I need to get the Gold Bell while the others need the Silver ones? But that guarantees at least one of us will fail, even if we get all the bells." Naruto frowned.

"Yep. The world of the Ninja is pretty cut throat, so get used to it. Also, if anyone other than Naruto manages to get the Gold Bell AND a Silver Bell, they will get the rank of Elite Genin and be allowed to order around all the other Genin in the village, not just the ones on your team. Getting just the Gold Bell or both Silver Bells is still a pass, but it won't get you a special rank."

Sakura grinned. _'If I can get that Gold Bell, while making sure Sasuke-kun and I get Silver ones, then Sasuke-kun and I will be alone together AND I can kick Naruto back to the Academy! That'll make Uncle Kisuke happy, and if I give the Gold Bell to Sasuke-kun and get him promoted, he'll love me for sure! CHA!'_ she thought.

Naruto felt a shudder go up his spine. He didn't know what Sakura was planning, but he knew it would be bad for him. Still, he had a test to pass! He waited patiently for Kakashi to set the little alarm clock and put it on one of the posts before finally declaring "Begin!"

Instantly, Naruto ordered his Familiar Clone to attack Kakashi and Yamato, giving him and his team an opening to flee for the forest. As soon as they were in the trees, Naruto made three more Familiar Clones and had them go and act as communication devices for his teammates. Unlike Shadow Clones, the Familiar Clones couldn't be dispelled, so the one he'd left to fight his senseis was now hog tied in Fox Form; it's single tail held against its body by Yamato's Wood Style.

Even with the Wood Style bindings messing with his clone's chakra, Naruto could still feel a strange energy from it. Naruto, being a creature of pure chakra, had an instinctual understanding of any and all chakra he came in contact with, even via clone, and something about this chakra felt strange. _'It's made of Water and Earth Chakra blending together to make Wood Chakra… but it feels kind of Artificial. Maybe it's because he got the Wood Style from an experiment and not naturally? But still, this chakra seems similar to…'_ Naruto was suddenly snapped from his thoughts when he got mental messages from his clones. They'd found his teammates and were bringing them to a location at the edge of the Training Ground.

Naruto pushed his earlier thoughts to the back of his head and ran off to join them, using his Fox Form to get their quicker. The place that the clones had picked to meet was an old burrow, used by bears to hibernate years ago. When Naruto arrived, he saw no one, but after whistling a little tune, the Clones appeared along with his teammates, whom had been hidden as foliage thanks to the **Fox Charm: Leaf Transformation**.

"Okay Naruto, give us the info." Sasuke stated.

"In Taijutsu, they have us beat, no questions asked. Kakashi-sensei has over a thousand jutsu at his disposal including ones for each of the five core elements. Yamato-sensei only has standard Ninja Arts and Wood Style, as well as a few ANBU tricks. His chakra is also weird and feels artificial, but its nothing we can exploit. Both of them are wearing the bells on their belt on the left side. They are also notably NOT working together. My captured Familiar can still send me fuzzy images and it seems like the sensei are searching for us separately." Naruto reported.

"Wait, what was that? Since when were you smart?" Sakura asked.

Naruto grinned. "I'm not book smart like you, but I'm observant. When Sasuke and I pull pranks, I analyse while Sasuke plans. I think we should do the same on missions."

Sasuke nodded. "Right, I'll make us a plan. We need to work together if we're going to stand a chance. Sai, you are the stealthiest of us and the best at hiding your intentions, so you are going to be the one to go for the bells. Sakura, you and I will be attacking from range with our jutsu to keep Kakashi occupied. Naruto, you're going to be the one to attack with Taijutsu and keep Yamato occupied, as well as making sure neither of them leave the open area. Can you do it?"

Naruto nodded. "If it weren't for the wood bindings on my Familiar, I could just substitute with it, but my link with it is do fuzzy now. Plus, the wood is pumping Chakra into my familiar and draining it back out; I can't substitute anything with Chakra that isn't purely my own. But if you could get one of my shadow clones in there, it'll be able to swap with that without losing any more power."

"Making those Familiars weakens you?" Sakura asked, looking between her teammate and the fox at her feet.

"Yeah, each one costs a Tail's worth of chakra. With four familiars out, my main body is running on about five/ninths of my usual strength." Naruto emphasised this by wagging his five remaining tails.

"Okay then… you're pretty handy for a monster. Regardless, I'm ready to go along with the plan, Sasuke-kun." Sakura replied.

"As am I." Sai added.

Sasuke nodded. "Right. First thing we need to do is corral them back into the open. Naruto, unleash your Shadow Clones."

"Hehe, you got it!" Naruto formed his new favourite handsign.

Seconds later, the entire forest was filled from top to bottom with Golden Foxes, each with five tails waving about. Kakashi and Yamato both sweatdropped as they were forced to evade thousands of sets of gnashing teeth and a thousand more sets of razor sharp claws. With Naruto's incredible vitality and chakra, as both a Tailed Beast and as an Uzumaki, he could make thousands of Shadow Clones without even using a full tail's worth of power, and each was able to take a couple of blows without dispelling. Each clone was only as strong as the average bandit or civilian guard, but with the sheer numbers and the senseis reluctance to use high-power techniques on a Genin, they had no choice but to retreat to the posts, where they had tied up Naruto's familiar. As soon as they were both out of the forest, all the clones dispelled and shrouded the area in smoke.

Kakashi and Yamato both sighed and relaxed, but were immediately forced to act when thousands of shuriken came out of the trees. Yamato immediately but up a wood shield, but since he wasn't supposed to help Kakashi, he left the Copy Ninja to his own defence. Kakashi made five shadow clones of his own and began to block and bat away the shuriken with his kunai. That was until one of the shuriken burst into smoke.

"What the hell? This is the Sarutobi Clan's **Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!** I can't believe Hokage-sama thought it was a good idea to give it to Naruto of all people!" Kakashi complained as he resorted to putting up a Mud Wall to protect himself.

"Behind us!" Yamato yelled, forgetting not to help Kakashi as he sensed two people gathering chakra in the trees behind them.

" **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!"

" **Ninja Art: Scattered Sakura**!"

Yamato didn't hesitate to expand his wood shield into a dome to cover his back, but before Kakashi could respond to the incoming hail of fire and razor blades, he was suddenly forced to block an attack from below. One of the shuriken at his feet had been a disguised shadow clone of Naruto, whom had been substituted with the real Naruto, whom was now forcing Kakashi into taijutsu combat in his human form, right in the path of the incoming attacks. At the last second, Kakashi prioritised protecting his student over the test and threw himself on top of Naruto, forcing the boy to the ground and restraining his arms as Sasuke's and Sakura's attacks sailed overhead. They collided with the back of the Mud Wall and exploded, sending dirt and debris all over the place.

Once things had calmed, Sasuke and Sakura emerged from the trees and walked merrily up to the two senseis, while Naruto relaxed, a triumphant smirk on his face that matched that of his teammates. Yamato reappeared from his wood dome and smiled at the cheerful expressions of his new Genin.

"Judging from your expressions, I'm guess you are responsible for Kakashi's sudden lack of bells?" Yamato said as Kakashi let Naruto go.

"Yep, our plan worked perfectly." Sasuke said with a grin as Sai appeared from underground beside him and handed the Uchiha a silver bell to match the one Sai kept.

"Well done getting them. Care to tell me how you did it?" Kakashi asked with a proud look in his eye.

Sasuke nodded. "After Naruto drove you from the forest with his Shadow Clones, he used the smoke cover from their dispelling to allow us to slip behind you. He then attacked with many shuriken with the **Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu** to create the illusion that we were all still in the forest in front of you. When you put up the defence, Sakura and I launched our attacks from your flank to force you to turn towards us. This allowed Naruto to substitute with one of his shadow clones and distract you with Taijutsu. He knew that you would prioritize protecting him over the mission of protecting the bells, so when you dived to protect him, Sai snagged the bells."

"But how? I was checking the ground with my chakra and I didn't detect him underground until AFTER he got the bells." Yamato asked.

"Simple. Sai ran directly behind my fireball to prevent you from seeing him. When Kakashi dived and the fireball went over him, Sai grabbed the bells from his belt and then dove underground; using the explosion of the Mud Wall to hide his entry into the earth." Sasuke explained.

"Ingenious, though I don't like that you used yourself as bait, Naruto. You could have been killed!" Kakashi frowned.

Naruto only grinned. "Count the tails, Kakashi-sensei!"

The one-eyed ninja did just that, and noticed only a single gold tail swaying behind the boy. "A familiar clone..."

"Yep!" Naruto smiled the real body appeared and reabsorbed his five clones to regain his nine tails.

Kakashi and Yamato smiled and looked to the clock. Five minutes left…

"Well, it looks like Sai and Sasuke pass! But I still have my gold bell, meaning either Naruto or Sakura, or even both, will fail and be sent back to the Academy." Yamato pointed out, flicking the Gold Bell still on his belt.

Sakura paled. She'd forgotten about that! She'd gotten so carried away in helping Sasuke's plan that she'd forgotten she needed a bell too! She couldn't take the one that Sasuke had and she doubted Sai would hand his over, or that she could take it with force. And with only five minutes left, only the Gold bell was left…

A ringing sound echoed across the training ground and Sakura knew it was her funeral bell. Standing just a few paces away from her was Naruto, smirking widely as he gently bounced the little, golden bell. Yamato blanched and grabbed his own bell, which with a handsign from Naruto, turned into a leaf.

"A fake? When and how did you do this!?" Yamato demanded.

"I simply disguised a leaf as a bell and then substituted it on to your belt." Naruto smiled.

"But I was channelling a little bit of chakra into it the whole time I had it! You shouldn't have been able to substitute it, and even if you did, I would have noticed!" Yamato said. "Can you really substitute things with chakra over than your own?"

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Nope! But I'll be able to one day, I know it."

"Then how did you switch them?" Kakashi asked.

"I switched them the instant you threw the bell to Yamato-sensei. Before the test began." Naruto replied.

Both teachers could only sweatdrop. The little prankster had got the drop on them. "Well, it looks like Team 7 will be Naruto, Sasuke and Sai! Unless you can get the bell from one of them in the next four minutes, Sakura." Kakashi said, looking to the pink haired girl.

She swallowed hard and looked at the three boys. Sakura would never be able to beat any of them in a fight and both Sasuke and Sai were guarding their bells too well for her to sneakily take them. Naruto on the other hand, just smiled.

"Here Sakura. Come here and take it; I won't stop you. In fact, Kakashi-sensei, if I or anyone else tries to stop Sakura from taking my bell, I want you to fail me." Naruto said, holding the bell out to Sakura.

Kakashi nodded solemnly while the other boys looked on with shocked expressions. "Naruto, what are you doing!? Are you really going to get sent back to the Academy for someone who hates you!?"

"Hate or not, we've been assigned to Team 7 together and that makes her my teammate. Come on Sakura, I swear I won't stop you." Naruto said, keeping his features from showing any emotion.

Sakura inwardly grinned. The foolish monster was willing to just hand over the bell and send himself back to the Academy! This was the best day ever! So why did it feel so wrong… Why couldn't she move her feet, or look Naruto in the eyes. Everything she could want was being handed to her without cost to her, but it seemed hollow.

Sakura hesitated.

Naruto smiled.

In a single instant, Naruto marched toward Sakura, grabbed her hand and put the gold bell inside it. "That moment of hesitation, and the feelings of doubt I felt just now… that proves that you, or at least a part of you, sees me as a comrade. That's enough for me." Naruto smiled warmly as he took a step back and allowed Sakura to keep the bell.

Failing felt bitter-sweet to the fox. It sucked that he would be a year behind his friends now, but at least he felt like he'd made some progress!

Kakashi looked at Naruto. "There is still a few seconds left. Are you sure about this, Naruto?"

The boy nodded. "Hey, I'm technically immortal right? I can pass the Academy any time I want! Heck, I could go and be a Ramen Chef for thirty years if I wanted, and still come back and kick butt as a Ninja. But I'll wait to do that until I've helped Sasuke catch Shisui, and helped Hinata-chan become Clan Head and abolish that thrice-cursed seal! I hope you don't mind waiting another year to get Justice, Sasuke." Naruto said a bit sheepishly.

Sasuke scowled. "One day Naruto, I swear I'm going to force you to be selfish."

The Alarm rang to end the test and Kakashi sighed. "Well, until that day comes. Genin Uzumaki, in light of your performance on this test, I have no choice but to...give you a Pass!"

Naruto felt his heart stop. This wasn't a joke right? Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be that cruel, right?

"And not just you, but all of you. You all displayed the one trait I wanted to see; Teamwork! You relied on each other's skills, depending on one another and trusted each other. On top of that, Sakura, you hesitated to turn on a comrade to complete your mission, while Naruto, you were willing to sacrifice yourself and your own mission to help a friend. That shows me that the four of you are worthy of being my first, successful Genin Team! Congratulations, Team 7!" Kakashi cheered.

Naruto leapt into the air as high as he could and then bellowed "HECK YEAH! I PASSED, DATTEBAYO!"

Sasuke and Sakura smiled, and even Sai couldn't help but feel a twitching at the corner of his lips. For all of them, this victory felt special, like it was the first one of many! Kakashi and Yamato all smiled, and even gave Naruto a second headband, so that he could wear one in both Human and Fox Form. Naruto gratefully took it and tied it around the neck of his Fox Form like a collar. Afterwards, Kakashi took Yamato and his Genin to get lunch at an Akimichi Barbecue restaurant. They ate their fill and returned home with the order to report back to Training Ground 7 at 6AM the next day. All the Genin planned to arrive at 9AM instead.

As they left the restaurant, Naruto ran to catch up with Yamato. "Hey, Yamato-sensei, I wanted to ask something." he said.

"Sure Naruto, what is it?" Yamato responded.

"Well, when you tied up my Familiar Clone with your Wood Style, I was able to feel the chakra in it. And something about it was really strange. It felt Artificial, but also… similar to something else." Naruto hesitated.

"My Wood Style Chakra probably feels artificial because it isn't my natural chakra. My body was altered with the Cells of the First Hokage, so my chakra is now a version of my own that has been mutated into a pseudo-version of the First Hokage's. But what does it feel similar too?" Yamato asked.

Naruto frowned a bit. "It feels like...my other Chakra. My Human, Uzumaki Chakra."

Yamato nodded in understanding. "Well Naruto, the Uzumaki Clan are distant relatives of the Senju Clan of the First Hokage. Plus, the First Hokage's wife was Mito Uzumaki. Your mother, Kushina, is the great-granddaughter of Mito and the First Hokage and the granddaughter of Tsunade-sama's Aunt. So, you are both Uzumaki and partly Senju from your mother's side. Perhaps your Tailed Beast Chakra has evolved your Human Chakra and made it more like your ancestor's?" the wood user theorised.

Naruto looked a bit amazed that he was now technically related to three of the four past Hokages and the unofficial Grandson of the other. "I think that if I tried, I might be able to make my chakra even more like yours. Let me try!" Yamato was about to stop Naruto, in case he hurt himself or someone else, but was stopped when he looked at what was now coming from Naruto's glowing hand.

It was a small, golden chain.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: DUN DUN DUUUUN! So, Team 7 passes and Naruto discovers the beginning of his mother's Bloodline! I've explored a lot of the powers of his Tailed Beast Side, so now I'm going to explore some of his Human Side too, and then we can see how the two intermingle.**

 **The Academy Arc is now over, and the next one will be… FU OF WATERFALL**

 **Also, expect Naruto's relationship with Hinata to truly begin next chapter.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**


	11. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 1

**AN:**

Okay, this chapter will be shorter than the last couple, since it is mostly establishing stuff, but their will be fun for all you NaruHina fans!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 1: THE FOX AND THE RABBIT**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Yamato nodded in understanding. "Well Naruto, the Uzumaki Clan are distant relatives of the Senju Clan of the First Hokage. Plus, the First Hokage's wife was Mito Uzumaki. Your mother, Kushina, is the great-granddaughter of Mito and the First Hokage and the granddaughter of Tsunade-sama's Aunt. So, you are both Uzumaki and partly Senju from your mother's side. Perhaps your Tailed Beast Chakra has evolved your Human Chakra and made it more like your ancestor's?" the wood user theorised._

 _Naruto looked a bit amazed that he was now technically related to three of the four past Hokages and the unofficial Grandson of the other. "I think that if I tried, I might be able to make my chakra even more like yours. Let me try!" Yamato was about to stop Naruto, in case he hurt himself or someone else, but was stopped when he looked at what was now coming from Naruto's glowing hand._

 _It was a small, golden chain._

 **XOXOXOX**

The first week of training had passed for the four new Genin Teams. Surprisingly, all four had passed their real tests from their Jonin, which lead to the first instance of all Graduated Students becoming Full Genin since the founding of the village.

Of course, that monumental achievement had been ignored by the Council, in favour of cheering and scrutinizing the return of a powerful bloodline, and the potential return of an even more powerful, ancestral Leaf Bloodline! No sooner had Naruto first produced that golden chakra chain, had Yamato dragged him to the Hokage, whom then had him sent to the hospital for full tests and blood works to see where this new power could lead. Naruto could still remember the subsequent Council Meeting…

After spending his morning in participating in the real Genin Test and his afternoon being poked and prodded at the Hospital, Naruto was less than happy about being forced to sit in the Council Chambers beside the Hokage, as the old man announced the findings to the rest of the Leaf Council.

"Men and Women of the Council. I have good news for you that will lead to the betterment of our village. The Chakra Chain Bloodline of Kushina Uzumaki has manifested itself in her son, Naruto." Hiruzen smiled.

The Council wasn't sure whether to be giddy with joy or shocked to the core. "How is this possible? We had Naruto tested for the possibility when he was two years old, and the report came back that there was a 0% chance of him inheriting or being able to pass on the Chakra Chain Bloodline." Hiashi said, remembering how much of a pain it had been to make the little fox boy stay still while the doctors took blood.

"Well, it seems that because his Human and Tailed Beast Chakra is constantly mixing, the latter is forcing his Human Chakra to evolve. This is likely his body's natural way to make itself more accustomed to his monstrous power, but it has led to this benefit. Not only that, but it has long been theorised that Kushina, being the great-granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, had manifested the Chakra Chains due to her potent Uzumaki Chakra blending with her diluted Senju Chakra. Meaning the Chakra Chain Bloodline may in fact be a weakened and mutated version of the Wood Style Bloodline." the Hokage explained.

"Now wait a moment, how does Wood Style devolve and change into the Chakra Chains?" one of the Elite Jonin asked.

Danzo was the one to answer that. "Well, the official name of the chains is the Adamantine Sealing Chains. They are a chakra construct that can seal others chakra, drain it and even use it to erect barriers or attack. Hashirama-sama had similar abilities via the Wood Style. Before his defection, Orochimaru had been studying it, and I read his reports when they were confiscated. The Snake theorised that the "instincts" of the Chakra in Hashirama's DNA were passed onto Kushina, but since she lacked the Elemental Chakra necessary to form Wood Style, since she was a Fire and Water Nature, her Chakra was left to try and fulfil those instincts without the elemental component. This created the Chakra Chains, using the natural power of the Uzumaki to fill in the blanks left by the absence of the correct Elemental Chakra."

Naruto was almost hopelessly lost, as were the Civilians and some of the newer Jonin on the Council, but the more senior ninja all understood. "So, if Naruto is able to make these chains, then he has the same Chakra "instincts" as the First Hokage? Then if he can manifest Water and Earth Chakra to make Wood, then he'll be able to use Wood Style?" Inoichi asked.

"Is such a thing even possible?" Homura the Elder asked.

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes it is. The Scroll left to us by Hagoromo-sama states that since Naruto possesses some Six Paths Chakra, being a Tailed Beast, he could potentially tap into all five of the core elements, giving him the necessary ability to mould Wood Chakra. Not only that, but the evolution in Naruto's chakra has also increased the potency of those genes."

"What does that mean for the village?" One Civilian asked, cottoning on that this was a more serious matter than he'd originally thought.

"Well, Wood Style, and by extension the Chakra Chains, are connected to an extremely recessive gene. This is why Hashirama was the only Senju who could use it, as it not only required the right Chakra Elements, which was a rare combination for a Senju, but also the gene. The chances of getting both the Gene and the Elemental Natures are astronomically low. That's also why only one of Hashirama's descendent manifested even the weakened version. But Naruto's evolving chakra has strengthened it, meaning that should Naruto breed, there is a 99% chance of them receiving the Chakra Chains, which means any child of his with the right natures would also be able to manifest Wood style." Danzo said, inwardly jumping with glee.

"So what should we do with the boy? If he possesses such a vital bloodline, we need to keep him in the village and under guard!" Jonin Haruno stated. He was immediately shot down.

"Do not forget, Naruto is also immortal, so we are in no rush to make him into a breeding machine. He can do that on his own. However, I will listen to any other alternatives you may come with at a later date. For now, this meeting his adjourned. Hiashi, would you please escort young Naruto home? He seems to have been exhausted by the day's events."

Everyone turned to see the blonde boy gently snoozing against the Hokage's desk. He had reverted to his fox form, as he often did while sleeping. Hiashi shook his head with a smile. At least his adoptive nephew had chosen to slip into his smallest Fox Form; that of a Fox Pup!

The next day was a Wednesday (the Team Assignment was on Monday and the Bell Test was on Tuesday), so Naruto spent the whole day training with his team before doing a random D-Rank Mission in the afternoon. Then on Thursday, he went to his assigned speciality department; the Seal Master's Office. Seals were a declining art in the Leaf Village, so he was the only student there, but the three old men that acted as the Leaf's Seal Masters were all eager to work with an Uzumaki, and lavished the boy with praise and telling him about the exploits of his two Seal-loving parents. Friday was much a repeat of Wednesday, and Saturday was only a half-day, with him spending the morning in classes with the Seal Masters.

Team 7 as a whole learned a lot, both in terms of Ninja Skills, as well as each other. Kakashi had gotten them started on Tree Walking and Water Walking, but they had all mastered that before, so Kakashi and Yamato decided to work on improving their weaker areas. For Sai, this was communication, for Sasuke it was his Analysis ability, for Sakura it was Ninjutsu and for Naruto, it was Genjutsu. By the end of the week, Sai was able to at least pretend to express some new emotions, Sasuke was able to analyse targets and situations without Naruto, Sakura was able to cast a few new Ninjutsu, and Naruto was able to cast a few Genjutsu.

Ironically, while Naruto had superb Chakra Control (he was MADE of chakra after all), he couldn't pump it out at a low enough level for most Genjutsu, so he could only adapt existing ones into his Fox Genjutsu, which were effective, but bordered on Ninjutsu in how they were used and what they did. The Seal training had been much easier, and Naruto had come away with the ability to perform contact seals; placing intricate seals with just a press of his finger and some chakra.

But now it was Sunday, and Naruto had his first, SS-Rank Mission; Asking Hinata Hyuga out on a date.

Naruto wasn't dumb; he knew Hinata had loved him since the Hyuga Affair, but he had always thought he loved her back, but only as a Sister. When Hanabi was born, that thought changed. He suddenly knew what he felt for little Hanabi was definitely sibling love, but what he felt for Hinata was deeper, and seemed to fill him with warmth whenever his thoughts drifted to the girl; her violet eyes like the moon and her cute features and innocent expression like that of a rabbit. Naruto had sworn to himself that once he was a Genin, he would ask the girl out, and now he would finally get the chance.

The Fox boy waited until after breakfast, when everyone had left the dining hall so that he'd have some privacy. Sure enough, Hiashi and Hikari excused themselves, and Hanabi ran off a little while later, followed by a few of the Branch House members. Eventually, only Naruto and Hinata remained in the hall. This wasn't rare for Hinata, who tended to eat slowly when she wasn't busy (something about properly savouring the food), but it was for Naruto, so Hinata took notice.

"Naruto-kun, why are you still here? You don't need to wait for me. You should enjoy your day off." Hinata smiled warmly.

Naruto blushed. "Uh, actually, Hinata-chan, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Hinata asked, tilting her head quizzically, which made her look cuter and made Naruto blush harder.

"Um, I wanted to ask if you wanted to go and get some dinner later?"

Hinata giggled. "We just had breakfast and you're thinking about Dinner already?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I mean like… did you want to go to Dinner with me? As a d-date?"

Now it was Hinata's turn to blush. She turned as red as a tomato as she tried to stutter out a reply. One of her two biggest dreams were coming true right before her and she was too flustered to properly answer. Luckily, Naruto smiled understandingly. "Shall I take that as a yes?"

Hinata nodded. She tried to speak, but it just came out as an adorable squeak, which only furthered the idea in Naruto's head that she was like a Rabbit. _'Heh, a Rabbit in romance and a Fox in combat! Hinata-chan's the best!'_ he thought.

"Okay, I'm going to be out today, making sure its all set up perfectly for tonight! I'll come back here to pick you up at 6 PM! I'm looking forward to it!" Naruto grinned, his own nervousness being eased as he saw Hinata's. At least he wasn't alone in his feelings!

With that, Naruto ran off to prepare the date. Hours later, many shops would be a few Ryo richer and all of Naruto's friends knew what was going on. Naruto had bought flowers at the Yamanaka Flower Shop and Ino had squeezed the truth from him, which led to every girl in the village knowing about it. And then, Naruto had stopped by Sasuke's to tell him what was happening, hoping his teammate would stop the girls of the village from swamping him and Hinata on their date, since the fox boy knew it would be a circus now that they all knew.

Sasuke decided to take one for the team and reluctantly announced that he felt like going out for a picnic outside the village and wanted a pretty girl to accompany him. That had made every girl in the village, save those too young, too old or Hinata, go crazy and forget all about the date between the Fox Boy and the Hyuga Heiress. Naruto swore he'd pay his friend back somehow…

Regardless, as the time for the Date neared, Hinata got ready with some help from her mother and sister. "I can't believe my little girl is already going out on her first date!" Hikari grinned, carefully brushing Hinata's hair.

"Mother, its not that big of a deal. I'm just going to dinner with Naruto; I've done it a hundred times." Hinata said, blushing profusely and not really believing her own words.

"But those were never dates Nee-chan!" Hanabi grinned. "Naru-nii-san never had the guts to ask before. Everyone knows you're in love with him, and its clear he loves you too! Besides, when you get married, he'll be my Real Brother!" the girl added.

Hinata just blushed more, unable to answer. Hikari just playfully scolded Hanabi for teasing her sister and Hanabi giggled and continued to play. In the end, Hinata was dressed in a knee-length white dress and white flat heeled shoes. Her Hair was left mostly in her natural style, though her two bangs were braided and had white beads tying the braids in place. Hinata had also refused to wear Make-up, which secretly pleased Hiashi, who didn't want his young daughter to try and look older than she was.

By the time Naruto arrived home to pick Hinata up, she and her parents were waiting at the gates to see them off. Naruto arrived wearing a white dress shirt and a black tie, along with black pants and shoes.

"Wow Naruto-kun, you clean up very nicely." Hinata complimented, a permanent blush on her cheeks.

Naruto just stared at the angel before him. "N-no way! Hinata-chan!? I knew you were really pretty, but man, this is a whole new level! I feel like I'm stepping out of my league here." he said, rapidly scanning his eyes over the angelic girl before him, as if it would vanish and he'd never get the chance to see such beauty again.

Hinata giggled and stepped forward and took Naruto's Arm. "You're good at Flattery, Naruto-kun. So, where are we going?"

Naruto grinned. "Now now, let's not get ahead of ourselves! Here, these are for you." Naruto formed a handseal and a bouquet of White Lilies appeared from a seal in his sleeve.

"Oh Naruto-kun, they are beautiful! Thank you! Wait here while I put them in some water." Hinata smiled, before running back into the compound with the flowers, leaving Naruto and her parents to smile.

Hiashi took this chance to do what all fathers did; casually threaten the lives of their daughters' boyfriends. "Naruto, you know how much my wife and I care about you, and you will always have a place in our hearts and home. But if you do anything to make my Daughter sad, I will personally hunt you down and castrate you." Hiashi said, all without losing the calm, Hyuga Facade. Naruto nodded with a serious face.

"If I ever did something like that, I'd have castrated myself before you even found me. But still, Hinata-chan is very important to me, and I swear to you, Hiashi-sama, Hikari-sama, so long as I am alive, I will protect Hinata-chan and preserve her happiness, no matter what it costs me. I give my word, and you know I never go back on my word." Naruto said, bowing respectfully to the Hyuga Patriarch.

Hiashi grinned. "Good. Now stop with the -sama. It feels strange not to be called Uncle." he said, with Hikari nodding happily beside him. "Just be sure you're both back by 10PM, and even though you're Officially Ninjas and thus considered Adults, please don't do anything...unsavoury."

Naruto blushed and nodded. "I won't! Neither Hinata-chan or I are bold enough for that."

Before the conversation could continue, Hinata got back, a happy smile on her face. Her mother whispered the same warning to her as Hiashi had to Naruto, making her go scarlet and the thought of doing something intimate with Naruto. In the end, both parents chuckled to themselves as Naruto and Hinata left, hand in hand.

Once they were a short distance from the compound, Hinata had recovered from her embarrassment enough to talk. "So, Naruto-kun, what do you have planned?"

"Well, I'm taking you to dinner at that Akimichi run place on Main Street. Then I have a little show planned for this evening." Naruto smiled, relishing the warmth of Hinata's soft hands. Despite all her hard Ninja training, Hinata's hands were still as soft as a newborn's.

Naruto led Hinata to the fancy restaurant in the rich part of the Main Street. The place was called the Butterfly Lounge and was the most expensive and highly sought after place in the Leaf Village. It was owned not only by the Akimichi Clan, but by their Clan Head; Choza Akimichi. "N-Naruto-kun, how did you get reservations at this place! And how could you afford it?" Hinata asked, dumbfounded as she and her Foxy Date were escorted to a private table by the fancily dressed host.

"Well, Choji owed me a favour, so he asked his dad. Choza was happy to let us use the Owner's Table in the VIP section. I thought it would be appropriate, since I'm escorting a Beautiful Princess." Naruto grinned, turning up the charm. "And as for money; let's just say that I still have a lot of funds from that S-Rank when we were three."

Hinata giggled as they were seated. The Host himself acted as their waiter and was highly attentive. Aside from Ichirakus, Naruto wasn't accepted in any Civilian run businesses, at least not without paying some extortionate "Demon Tax", but the Ninja owned businesses welcomed him, especially those that had known his parents, such as the Akimichi Clan. Once Naruto and Hinata's food came, the two relaxed into happy chatting, discussing their first week of training.

"Kurenai-sensei may be a new Jonin, but you'd never guess based on her skills. She taught me a few new Genjutsu and worked with my mother to further improve my Gentle Wing Style. Plus, my work with my Archery Sensei and at the Sensor Corps has really come along! If things keep going like this, I'll be able to keep up with you and Sasuke-kun!" Hinata said with a grin.

"Great, you know I don't feel right going into dangerous situations without you. Plus, I worry when I don't see you for too long. For a Hyuga Princess, you get into almost as much trouble as I do!" Naruto laughed.

Hinata gave a playful pout. "That's only because you've taught me not to be as passive. I'd be a stuttering wreck without you."

"And I'd be an attention seeking idiot without you." Naruto shot back. The two young Ninja laughed as they ate and continued to make each other laugh until they had finished their meals. Naruto paid and gave a generous tip to the attentive host before escorting Hinata to his surprise.

He took her to the top of the Hokage Monument, where a blanket had been laid on the top of the Fourth Hokage's head, and many candles had been lit all around it. "Naruto-kun, this is so romantic! How did you come up with this?" Hinata asked as she and Naruto sat down on the blanket.

"Hehe, I borrowed some Romance Novels from Aunt Mikoto, to get inspiration. Ah, now the real show will start." Naruto said, wrapping an arm around Hinata's shoulders.

The Hyuga Princess was about to question the fox boy, but before she could, fireworks began to light up the sky, coming from all over the village. Brilliant flashes of red, gold, green and dozens of other colours illuminated the night sky. Hinata gazed up at the display, awe in her eyes as she watched. Slowly, it came to an end and Naruto grinned at her.

"Never thought I could do something like that with Seals, did you? How'd you like that, Hinata-chan?" he asked.

Hinata-chan smiled broadly and pulled Naruto towards her, capturing the boy in a kiss. It was sweet and chaste, and both young Genin could feel the love that the other felt for them before they slowly separated, warm blushes on their cheeks. "D-Does that mean I did good?" Naruto asked with a goofy smile.

"Oh yes, definitely." Hinata giggled.

"G-Good enough to be considered your Boyfriend?"

The Hyuga girl paused for a moment. "Well, that depends."

Naruto looked deeper into the girl's violet eyes. "Depends on what?"

"If you would consider me your Girlfriend..."

Naruto and Hinata just stared at each other for a moment before erupting into a fit of giggles. They stared like that for a long time, just smiling in each other's arms and enjoying one another's warmth until the candles had burned down and been extinguished by the cool night air. Both of them wished to stay like that forever, but knew that it was nearing the time for them to go home. Hinata was almost completely asleep, so Naruto gently picked her up and held her bridal style as he ran home. When he arrived, he tiptoed to Hinata's room and tucked her under the covers after removing her shoes. Just as he was about to leave, Hinata piped up.

"Naruto-kun… I love you."

Naruto felt his heart skip. He knew he was loved by his friends, his adoptive family and by his still comatose parents, but this was the first time he'd ever heard someone say those words to him.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan. I love you too." he said, before heading off to his own room to sleep, all while wearing the biggest grin anyone had ever seen.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And that's a wrap! We get to know a little about Naruto's powers and his relationship with Hinata becomes official! The Harem aspects won't come into the story until the CRA is introduced at the end of this Arc.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the romance. It was the first time I'd ever written something like that, so here's hoping it turned out well. I also hope you like (or at least don't hate) the idea of Chakra Chains being a sort of pseudo Wood-Style. I did it partly because all the Indra incarnations have the same powers of the Mangekyo Sharingan, but none of the Asura incarnations share a common ability. Since Wood Style is Hashirama's iconic style, I decided to make that the Asura equivalent of the Mangekyo.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/?/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/?/?/?/?**

 **Current Harem Suggestions are:**

 **Naruto: Karin (8 Vote), Temari (10 Vote), Ino (4 Votes), Hanabi (5 Vote), Tenten (3 Votes), Fem Haku (7 Vote), Yugito (1 Vote), Fu (14 Vote), Tayuya (1 Vote), Samui (1 Vote), Kaguya (2 Vote), Konan (5 Vote), Kurotsuchi (4 Votes), Shizune (2 Vote), Mikoto (1 Vote), Kurenai (1 Vote), Mabui (1 Vote), Koyuki (1 Vote) and Anko (4 Votes)**

 **Sasuke: Ino (7 Votes), Fem Haku (11 Vote), Karin (6 Vote), Kin (1 Vote), Tayuya (1 Vote), Tenten (3 Vote), Samui (3 Vote), Karui (1 Vote), Kurotsuchi (1 Vote), Fu (1 Vote) and Anko (2 Vote)**


	12. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 2

**AN:**

Now we get to the replacement for the Land of Waves Arc! As I said before, this Arc will have several aspects borrowed from that Arc (like Characters) but it will still be very different.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 2: DIPLOMATIC C-RANK**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Naruto-kun… I love you."_

 _Naruto felt his heart skip. He knew he was loved by his friends, his adoptive family and by his still comatose parents, but this was the first time he'd ever heard someone say those words to him._

" _Thank you, Hinata-chan. I love you too." he said, before heading off to his own room to sleep, all while wearing the biggest grin anyone had ever seen._

 **XOXOXOX**

One Month had passed since Naruto and Hinata officially became a couple. They were met by congratulations and (much to their mutual embarrassment) cries of "Finally" from all of their friends. Even Sakura gave her congratulations to Hinata, as she knew the Hyuga Girl was friends with Sasuke and now that she was in a relationship with Naruto, there was no chance of her deciding to move in on Sakura's Beloved. Their Relationship moved at a comfortable pace, with them making sure to spend their evenings and Sundays together, as both wanted to make sure they prioritized training during the week.

On Team 7, Training had been going very well. Naruto was gradually learning new Seals and had begun to really train with his Chakra Chains under Yamato. He was now able to manifest the chains from anywhere on his body and could create a maximum of ten at a time. He was also able to make Contact Seals with his chains, and use them to fire Jutsus, much like he did with the Tails of his Fox Form. Sasuke had improved upon his swordsmanship and learned many new Fire Jutsu from both Kakashi and his brother, as well as learning how to make Binding Seals from Naruto. Sai's training was mostly a formality, but his skill with his Tanto was improved by his spars with Sasuke, and with help from Naruto, he was finally able to master the **Sealing Jutsu: Crouching Tiger Bullet**. He was even able to begin feeling emotions again, though only a little. Of the four members of Team 7, it was Sakura that improved the most. She'd learnt how to perform the core Medical Jutsu; **Mystical Palm** and several more specialised medical jutsu such as poison extraction and diagnosis techniques. She'd also had her Taijutsu thoroughly improved upon, and her skill with Genjutsu increased to rival that of Kurenai (at least when she was a Genin).

All this combined with a remarkable Mission Record of at least ten D-Ranks finished daily (Shadow Clone Abuse was becoming a Naruto Trademark), meant that Kakashi and Yamato were going to excel their training to something normally limited to those of at least Chunin Rank; Elemental Training!

It was a cool, Monday morning when Team 7 was called to assemble at their Training Grounds. As per usual, they all arrived three hours after Kakashi told them to and were still a good half hour early. When their Senseis finally showed up, the four Genin just scowled at them, no longer bothering to admonish them for being late.

"Morning everybody. I hope you're ready, because we'll be doing some special training today." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Special Training? Is this going to be another attempt at awakening Sasuke's Sharingan, because if it is, I'll have to pass. Last time was… horrifying." Naruto shuddered.

"I agree. I'm not doing that again." Sasuke said curtly, memories of feathers, glue and rubber chickens forever burned into his brain.

"Come now Broody, I thought it was amusing." Sai said simply. He had given his own nicknames to his teammates, but after he was nearly beaten to death by a pissed off Sakura, he decided to just use the ones Naruto had come up with.

"And that is Reason 13 on why you are a Sociopath." Sasuke frowned.

Kakashi cleared his throat to get the attention back on him. "Actually, this training is usually only used by Chunin, but I think you guys are skilled enough. It's Elemental Training! We're going to find out what your Chakra Natures are!" the one eyed man said, happily holding up some blank sheets of paper.

"Wait, Natures? As in, plural? I thought a person could only have one nature." Sakura asked.

"That is a common misconception. In reality, most people have multiple natures, with some like Kakashi having all five core elements. The reason for the misconception is that most Ninja only bother to train their strongest element, or their Affinity, as its called. A few will train their second best element or whichever element covers for the weakness of their main one. For example, my Affinity is Wood, both because of the experiments on me, as well as my Water and Earth Natures being my best. I also have the Fire Nature and Wind Nature, but both are so weak that it would take too much chakra to make them viable for me." Yamato explained.

"I see. So how will we discover our Affinities? Meditation?" Sasuke asked.

"Nope! Just channel your chakra into this special paper!" Kakashi handed each of them a small sheet of it. "This is Chakra Paper. It's the Jonin-grade version, so it will be able to determine all your elements and their strengths, not just your Affinity like the Common-grade. Try it out."

"I'll go first then." Sasuke said, channelling chakra into the paper. A quarter of the paper was sliced off before it turned turned into soggy mud, but the majority of the paper scrunched itself up into a tight ball before lighting on fire. At the very core of the flames, was a few flickers of black.

Kakashi whistled. "A pretty impressive set of natures there Sasuke. You have an incredibly powerful Lightning Affinity with a very strong Fire Nature. You also have average strength Water, Earth and Wind Natures. So, like me, you'll be able to use all the core elements. But judging from that Fire reaction, I think you may eventually be able to advance it to something further."

Sasuke grinned. "This is perfect! With access to all the elements, I'll be able to cover any weakness."

"True, plus with you being a Lightning Affinity like me, I'll be able to pass my best techniques to you." Kakashi eye-smiled. "Now, you're up Sai."

The stoic boy nodded and channelled his chakra. What came up was no surprise; he already knew his elements. One corner of the paper caught on fire, while another turned wet, before the whole thing crumpled into dust. "Earth Affinity with fairly strong Fire and Water Natures. A good mix, especially for your style Sai." Yamato commented.

"Okay, my turn." Sakura said. Her paper did the same thing as Sai's, though instead of one corner burning, it crinkled.

"An Earth Affinity with good Water and Lightning Natures. Another good mix, you should be glad Sakura." Yamato said, making the pink haired Kunoichi grin.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and revealed he still had three sheets of Chakra Paper. "Now Naruto, you are a little different. Hokage-sama and the Council have asked me to test your chakra three times; once using your normal chakra, once using only your Human Chakra and once using your Beast Chakra. So we can see which side gives which elements."

Naruto nodded. It was a little known fact that Naruto's "Normal" chakra was actually a blend of his Human and Beast Chakra. He could use both of them on their own, but it was so much easier for him to use them blended together, to the point that he considered it his "Natural" chakra. "I'll do the Human Side first." the boy said, taking a moment to gather only Human Chakra before channelling it.

The Paper was sliced to ribbons, with two thirds of them being burned and the last third turning soggy. "Not too shocking, considering your lineage. You have an overwhelmingly strong Wind Affinity like your father with a strong Fire Nature like your mom. You also have a moderate Water Nature, which is common for an Uzumaki." Kakashi explained, ignoring Sakura's questioning glance at the mention of Naruto's parents.

"Okay, Beast Chakra is next." Naruto said, repeating the process. This time, the paper split evenly into four pieces; one crinkled, one turned to dust, one became wet and one was sliced up even more. Finally, all four pieces erupted with flame.

Kakashi whistled. "Well, your Nine Tails Chakra has strong natures in Wind, Water, Earth and Lightning, but has an immense Fire Affinity! I guess those reports on Tailed Beast Chakra having all the elements was true." he said. "Now do your normal chakra."

Naruto did so and the result shocked his teammates. The process was much the same as his Tailed Beast Chakra, though the paper only split into three pieces that reflected Water, Earth and Lightning. The Water Nature was a bit stronger than before, but the real surprise was the paper then erupted into red and white flames that burnt far more intensely than normal. Kakashi and Yamato looked at one another, before Yamato pulled out a small book and began to flip through the pages.

"It looks like Fairly strong Water, Earth and Lightning Natures, with Water being just a hair stronger. But the intense flames were caused by a combination of the Beast's Fire Affinity and the Human's Wind Affinity. They combined into Naruto's True Affinity; Scorch. Its a Bloodline element that was previously exclusive to a small, extinct clan from the Hidden Mist Village, and a single Kunoichi from the Sand Village, who was killed in action a few years back." Yamato stated.

"So, I'm the only one that can use Scorch Style now?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded to the affirmative.

"Right, now that we know your Affinities, will begin training with them. First is learning how to perform basic Nature Manipulation! For this, we're going to need a ton of leaves, so I want all four of you to head into the forest and gather up as many as you possibly can!" Kakashi ordered. The four Genin nodded and ran into the woods around their training ground.

Once they were out of sight, Kakashi turned to Yamato. "Did you get it?" he asked.

The Wood User nodded, revealing a small piece of paper. "I managed to snag it before the Scorch flames consumed it. A piece of Naruto's paper when he used his combined Chakra."

"And? What's the verdict?"

Yamato held it up to Kakashi. "This piece clung together instead of being cut, and was originally where the Water and Earth parts were connected. The fibres of the paper have been changed… almost like Naruto's chakra was turning it back into wood."

"So this confirms that he will be able to use the Wood Style?" Kakashi asked.

"At the moment, no. It's still far too weak. But it proves Naruto's chakra is still evolving, so it may be possible for him to do it in the future. We can only wait and see for now." Yamato said. "And to think, we've seen Naruto as both a Human and a Fox, but he still hasn't revealed his True Tailed Beast Form, only an imitation. Who knows what else he can do?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, and if Sasuke is able to unlock everything the Sharingan has to offer, he'll have almost as many abilities as Naruto. Though without Naruto's immortality, he'll need to pick and choose which ones he decides to train. After all, there is never enough time to master everything, which is what sent Orochimaru over the edge."

At the mention of the Snake, Yamato went silent and the two Jonin awaited their students' return. When the Four Genin did show up, their arms filled with leaves, they were taught the most basic Nature Manipulation technique, which was to force the leaves to act like Chakra Paper by correctly forming their elemental chakra. It was hard, and Naruto had to create some Shadow Clones to practice his Fire and Wind Affinities while the main body handled the new Scorch Affinity.

By the time they were to go for a mission, all the members of Team 7 had managed to complete the task with ease. As a being of Chakra, once Naruto got the feel of his elemental chakra, it was easy for him to call upon it, so part way through, he began practising the Yang Style Jutsu that the Hokage had given him, but the level of fine control was more difficult than he thought possible. For Naruto, Chakra Control was a simple as moving and breathing, but this jutsu requires fine control on the equivalent level of a contortionist putting their feet behind their head and then doing the tango. It was simply impossible for most normal people, even without the insane chakra cost. Naruto was beginning to truly understand why he had been given such a jutsu to learn.

With their daily training finished, Team 7 reported to the Hokage, whom was waiting at the Mission Collection Desk with the members of the Elder and Jonin Councils, plus Iruka. The sight of the two councils made the Genin nervous, and the Jonin suspicious.

"Team 7 reporting for a mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said formally. He wasn't usually like this with the Hokage, but he decided to put on a show for the Councillors.

"Ah, very good. Kakashi, Yamato, do you believe your Genin are ready for a C-Rank Mission?" The Hokage asked.

"Yes Hokage-sama. I had wanted to ask, but since its only been a month into their training, I didn't dare." Kakashi answered. This was a lie of course; he just didn't want the hassle from the Council for taking their precious Tailed Beast and Last Uchiha out of the village.

The Hokage smiled. "Good, then I have a C-Rank for you. Actually, I have two; one for Team 7 and one for Naruto Uzumaki specifically." Naruto went a bit pale at that. The only reason he'd be given a separate mission was if it was something only he could do, which meant either Tailed Beast skills or Sealing. And Naruto was willing to bet all his Ramen that this mission wasn't to make some new seal… Sasuke looked equally worried, while Sakura looked annoyed at the "special treatment". Why should Naruto get the mission and not her precious Sasuke-kun?

"Hokage-sama, I know I've said this before, but I don't think this is right! It is too early for such a new team to be going on C-Ranks! And what you want from Naruto is not something he has the experience to deal with." Iruka argued, feeling worry for his old students.

"All the better to send him. We may need Naruto to handle tasks like these in the future, and with more adversity. Giving him a "safe" mission would be the best way for him to gain experience in this matter." Danzo said, turning towards the scarred Chunin.

"Um, Hokage-sama, Danzo-sama, what is this mission?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, right to the point. Your C-Rank is a Diplomatic Mission from the Hidden Waterfall Village. They have requested that you travel to their village, make contact with a Jinchuriki that lives there, and convince them to come to the Hidden Leaf Village." Hiruzen explained.

Now that really threw Team 7 through a loop! Not only was an allied village asking them to help with a Jinchuriki, which was a taboo topic among the Hidden Villages, but they were also asking them to convince the Jinchuriki to switch from their home village and join another one. The Fact the Waterfall and Leaf were allied made it a bit less controversial, but not much.

"Hokage-sama, could we get more details on this mission? It is...unorthodox." Yamato asked.

Hiruzen nodded and then looked to Danzo, whom had facilitated the mission. "The background of this mission actually begins one month ago, just before the Graduations right here in the Leaf Village. A man from the Land of Waves came here to hire Ninja as escorts and protection while he returned to his homeland and completed his bridge. It was a C-Rank Mission, or at least it was supposed to be, and so it was assigned to Genin Team 9, lead by Might Guy."

"Ah, so this mission is connected to the troubles Guy's team encountered..." Kakashi frowned, suddenly getting serious.

"Did something happen to them?" Sakura asked.

"Sort off. It turns out that the client lied about the mission details. There were Ninja after him, which pumped it up to B-Rank. Then they were attacked by Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist and three unknown assailants, making the whole mission A-Rank. Luckily, Guy was able to drive the elite ninja off while his Genin protected the client. In the end, the person who hired Zabuza betrayed him, but was then executed by the Missing-Nin, whom fled afterwards." Kakashi explained.

Danzo nodded. "You are correct. However Guy did not divulge everything to you, as he was ordered to keep it a secret until we had spoken to you. During one of Guy's...eccentric speeches while fighting Zabuza, he discovered the Missing-Nin's plans. He is supporting the Rebellion against the current regime in the Hidden Mist Village and is gathering a very specific kind of ally. Ones that can match the current Mizukage with the same powers."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "And those allies are?"

"Jinchuriki. Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage is a confirmed Jinchuriki and Zabuza is trying to recruit the others, by bribery or force. The Intelligence Department believe he was working the Wave Job as a way of getting funds, as his client; Gato, was a rich man thanks to his illegal businesses." The Hokage explained.

Yamato looked to Naruto, whom was now as white as a ghost. "I'm guessing that Zabuza's target will be this Jinchuriki. The others are all members of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and Zabuza would never be stupid enough to draw one of them into his fight. The Waterfall Jinchuriki is the only one he could bribe or capture without triggering a war between two Great Nations."

"You are correct, Yamato, but this isn't mere speculation. Shibuki, the leader of the Waterfall Village has sent us intelligence that claims there have been numerous sightings of Zabuza and three figures, matching Guy's rough descriptions, in the border towns in the Land of Waterfalls. His intentions are clear at this point." Shikaku Nara, the Jonin Commander said.

"But that doesn't explain why they want Naruto to convince the Jinchuriki to come and join the Leaf. I know that the other villages consider Tailed Beasts and their containers as weapons, so why would a village, especially a small one like Waterfall, want to give up such an advantage." Sasuke asked.

"An astute observation, Sasuke-kun. Shibuki sent a personal message along with the Mission Request from his Council. The message stated that he hoped the Jinchuriki would find a happier life in the Leaf Village." Hiruzen explained.

"And what did the Mission Request from the Council say?" Naruto asked, his voice taking on an unnatural coldness that disturbed all those who heard it.

"Are you sure you wish to know? It is...not pleasant."

Naruto nodded to his Grandfather-figure, whom sighed and crossed his hands in front of his face. "The Report said that the Village; Civilians and Ninja, despise the Jinchuriki and actively abuse them. They simply want to be rid of their Tailed Beast, as they never truly wanted it. Apparently a past Village Leader accepted it from the Hidden Sand Village as part of the reparations the Sand paid to the Waterfall following the Second Shinobi World War. The Council's letter goes on to say; "We hope you manage to tame the vile creature and his container like you did with yours, or at least manage to kill it for good using your own captive monster." Those are their exact words."

"I accept the mission." Naruto said instantly. "I will bring the Jinchuriki here, but I would like to make some requests."

"And what would those be?" Danzo asked.

"First, the Jinchuriki will not be forced to fight or be a Ninja if they don't want to. Second, they will not be used as a weapon. Third, it must be an S-Rank secret that they are a Jinchuriki and the Civilians must not be allowed to know." Naruto said firmly.

"You are making steep demands there, boy. Why should we agree to this?" Kisuke Haruno growled.

"Because, as the Nine Tails, I am technically the strongest and most senior of the Tailed Beasts. Plus, I am the last of the Uzumaki Clan. Containing a Tailed Beast makes the Jinchuriki a part of my family, willing or otherwise, and thus they are an honorary part of the Uzumaki Clan. As the only active member of the clan, I am the default Clan Head and I have the right to claim such things under the Hidden Leaf Clan Charter." Naruto explained.

"Bah, don't be foolish. You are a twelve year old Genin. You need to be at least Twenty or have the rank of Tokubetsu Jonin to be called Clan Head." Haruno responded mockingly.

"Actually, those are only requirements for joining the Clan Council, which is not the same as being Clan Head. The only requirement to be Clan Head is to be either selected by the Clan, or be the last active or living member."

The council looked at each other with shocked expressions before turning to their resident Genius; Shikaku Nara. "The kid's right. He does have the right to be Clan Head and thus can make the demands. There is also precedence for it; set by the Hyuga Clan. Those who enter a Clan indirectly, such as having a Clan Member sealed inside them, are given full rights and protections as any other Clan Member."

"How the hell did we end up with that specific precedence!?" one Jonin Councillor asked.

"Some shenanigans between a Yamanaka and a Hyuga. Apparently during a botched attempt at a Mind Transfer Jutsu, a Hyuga got their mind sealed into a Yamanaka, so that Yamanaka was made a part of the Hyuga Clan in order to make sure the Hyuga's secrets stayed in the clan. But I'm more interested in how you knew all this, Naruto." Shikaku asked

Naruto grinned. "It's my dream to eventually reunite the Tailed Beasts and make a place where they can live free and in peace, without being used as Weapons. I studied the laws on it to protect them from some of the more...unsavoury elements in the village." he said, flashing a glance at Jonin Haruno.

"Well, with Naruto accepting his mission and his requests being a done-deal, what is the C-Rank for the rest of Team 7? I'm assuming it is to escort him there, watch over him and then bring him and Jinchuriki back?" Kakashi asked.

"You are correct. But with Zabuza and his minions about, we would normally have to make it an A-Rank mission. But luckily, the task of actually defending you from them has been given to another Team." Hiruzen said, signalling to Iruka. The teacher got to his feet and left the room. Moments later, he returned with four people. One was a woman with purple hair in a pineapple style, wearing nothing by a mesh body suit, tan trench coat and orange skirt. The second woman also had purple hair, but it was long and straight and she wore a familiar cat mask with her ANBU gear. The second two were men; one with bags under his eyes and wearing the standard Jonin Uniform and one had a black version of Kakashi's hair and wore goggles.

"This is the Protection Squad for this mission. They are Anko Mitarashi, Yugao Uzuki, Hayate Gekko and Aoba Yamashiro. They will protect you on this mission. Naruto Uzumaki; for the duration of this mission, I'm giving you the rank of Ambassador. This means you have the right to command both the Protection Squad and the Escort Team, but be sure to use this power responsibly. I will be eager to here how you handle it." The old Hokage said.

Naruto grinned. "Okay Hokage-sama! I'll do my best and bring that Jinchuriki home safe and sound! Dattebayo!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And that's the mission! Next chapter we will learn about the Jinchuriki and their abilities, as well as begin the trip to the Hidden Waterfall!**

 **Since a lot of people have been asking, I'm going to put this here; it is the powers of both Naruto and Sasuke during the Genin Saga, the Shippuden Saga and the War Saga, as well as some others!**

 **SPOILERS BEGIN HERE**

 **Genin Saga Naruto:** Wind, Fire, Scorch Style. Chakra Chains and limited Wood Style. Shadow Clones, Rasengan and Fox/Toad Summoning.

 **Shippuden Saga Naruto:** Improved Wood Style, Elemental Rasengans, Seal Mastery, Fox Sage Mode. Incomplete Tailed Beast Mode. Limited Yang Style

 **War Saga Naruto:** Full Tailed Beast Mode, Mastered Wood and Yang Style, Flying Raijin, Six Paths Power.

 **Genin Saga Sasuke:** Sharingan, Fire Style, Hawk Summoning, Chidori and Curse Seal

 **Shippuden Saga Sasuke:** Mangekyo Sharingan, Limited Yin Style, Chidori Variants, Kirin, Curse Seal, Inferno Style.

 **War Saga Sasuke:** Rinnegan, Perfect Susanoo, Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Mastered Yin Style, Six Paths Power.

 **Sakura:** Slug Summons, Strength of a Hundred Seal

 **Hinata:** Tenseigan, Kaguya/Hamura power.

 **SPOILERS END HERE**


	13. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 3

**AN:**

Now we begin the journey to the Waterfall Village! We'll also get a bit of background on the Protection Team members as well as learn about Fu.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO WATERFALL**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _This is the Protection Squad for this mission. They are Anko Mitarashi, Yugao Uzuki, Hayate Gekko and Aoba Yamashiro. They will protect you on this mission. Naruto Uzumaki; for the duration of this mission, I'm giving you the rank of Ambassador. This means you have the right to command both the Protection Squad and the Escort Team, but be sure to use this power responsibly. I will be eager to here how you handle it." The old Hokage said._

 _Naruto grinned. "Okay Hokage-sama! I'll do my best and bring that Jinchuriki home safe and sound! Dattebayo!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

Team 7 and their Protection Squad left the Hokage's office with their mission scrolls and some other files in hand. Hayate motioned for them to follow him to the Jonin Lounge, where they could discuss and plan for the mission. They didn't need to leave until tomorrow, so they were free to use the afternoon for planning.

"Okay everyone, make yourselves at home. We're going to begin planning our approach to the mission." Hayate said, directing the others to take seats around the room.

"Do all C-Rank missions involve this sort of thing? I've already done an S-Rank and an A-Rank before and I never had to do this." Naruto asked.

Hayate nodded. The sickly swordsman was once a member of Kushina Uzumaki's Genin Squad in the same way that Kakashi was a member of Minato's Genin Squad, so he too considered Naruto to be like a little brother. However, his personal pride didn't allow Naruto to see him too much, due to the illness that Hayate was afflicted with. "Any mission that requires coordination with other squads, or when multiple missions are assigned to the same group, will require these meetings. This is so the teams can exchange information with each other and plan effectively. This procedure is why the Leaf is so successful with its missions."

"Yeah. Normally, only the grown ups would be allowed to attend though, but since the Hokage named Naruto as Ambassador and put him in charge of both the Protection and Escort Squads, we had to invite him and the other brats." Anko smirked.

Naruto and Sasuke had become friends with Anko not long after they settled their own dispute. They'd run into her, drunk as a skunk, in an alleyway while they were fleeing the scene of one of their pranks. In her drunken state, Anko had vented about the miseries inflicted on her by Orochimaru and the people who saw her as his pet, which had angered Naruto (who understood being blamed for someone else's actions) and Sasuke (who understood the desire for Revenge) to the point of having them swear that they'd bring Orochimaru to justice, just like they would with Shisui. Anko hadn't believed them, but when she sobered up, she became like a Big Sister to both of them. Naruto had a weird habit of acquiring Pseudo-Siblings!

"Hey Anko! Please don't go treating me like the boss on this mission. Gramps may have put me in charge, but I don't know the first thing about leading a mission, or even being an Ambassador." Naruto said.

"That is why I am here." Aoba said. "Unlike the rest of this team, I have not met you all before. However, I have been to the Hidden Waterfall on Diplomatic Missions in the past, so Hokage-sama felt I would be a good addition to the mission. I have head a lot about this team, including reports that say you are the most promising Genin Team since the Legendary Sannin were Genin. I look forward to verifying this for myself." he said, his voice remaining professional.

Following this, everybody gave brief introductions to each other, in which Team 7 learned that Yugao was one of Naruto's ANBU guards; codenamed Neko, and that she was previously partnered with Itachi and Kakashi when they were in the ANBU.

"Right, now that the introductions are out of the way, we should begin looking through our Information. What is in the files that Hokage-sama gave you, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Naruto opened the top file and read through it quickly.

"This is the file on the Jinchuriki, provided by Shibuki of Waterfall." Naruto said, handing it to his sensei.

Kakashi read through it and then turned to address the others. "Okay; the Jinchuriki is named Fu of Waterfall. She is the Jinchuriki of the Seven Tailed Beetle. She is a female, aged twelve. Height is 4ft 6inches, Weight is 39.2 Kg. She is described as having a slender build, Mint Green Hair, caramel skin, orange eyes and favouring White Clothing. Her skills include Wind and Water Nature and through her Tailed Beast, she is able to manipulate insects, manifest wings to fly and can perform Particle Style Jutsus."

"Particle Style? You mean like the Third Tsuchikage? That would make her ridiculously dangerous!" Hayate said, suddenly concerned that Zabuza's crew might not be their biggest threat now.

"According to the file, Fu's Particle Style revolves around the creation of fine powders as opposed to atomic disassembly like old man Onoki's. Its the same as how Lava Style can be used to manipulate true Lava, Quicklime or Rubber depending on the user." Kakashi explained.

The group nodded in understanding as Kakashi continued to read Fu's file, his single visible eye becoming colder as he read. "According to Shibuki, her personal life has been… poor, at best. Her mother died at Childbirth and her father was put to death for attempting to prevent Fu from becoming the Jinchuriki. Fu was made Jinchuriki at four months old and was raised as an orphan. She apparently lived on the streets, as the Orphanage refused to take her, until she became a student of their Academy. Sickeningly, despite the Seven Tails never rampaging and Fu never having done anything wrong, she was the subject of much physical and mental abuse from both Civilians and Ninja alike. Her Medical History is longer and more horrifying than most entire seasoned ANBU Squads."

Naruto growled and his fox features began to slip through his human form. He knew Fu would have had a bad life, but this was beyond what he had expected, especially since the Seven Tails hadn't even hurt anyone!

"The more I hear about this girl, the happier I am that we're bringing her back here. The Civilians are idiots, but at least the Ninja of the Leaf know how to treat a person." Sasuke said, frowning and cracking his knuckles. Sai kept his features blank, but a nearly undetectable twitch flashed across his face at the mention of the girl's abuse. Even Sakura was sickened; she had been raised to hate monsters, not innocent girls that had been forced to contain them.

"Well, with this information and Naruto's skill in turning people to his side, recruiting Fu shouldn't be an issue. However, we still need to be careful about Zabuza's crew. Aside from Zabuza himself, we don't know the identity of the other three. All four members can perform Water Style, with one of the unknown members being able to use Lightning Style as well. Also, another one was stated to have Ice abilities. Whether this is from advanced Water Style or an actual Ice Style Bloodline is currently unknown. The biggest threat is Zabuza and his sword; the Executioner's Blade. He is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and can perform their signature **Silent Killing** technique." Aoba explained.

"What are our chances of winning if we run into them?" Naruto asked.

"Well, your four Genin may be able to beat one or two of them, since Team 9's three Genin were able to hold off two of them. However against Zabuza, or more than two of his cronies, I'd say your chances are nil. You four are not to engage them unless it is an emergency, however even in an emergency it would be better for you to flee." Yugao said. Kakashi snorted; yeah, as if his Genin would run away without their Senseis or Comrades…

"However, the four of us were chosen for our skills in defeating powerful opponents. Hayate can match anyone in Swordsmanship, Yugao and Anko are experts at fighting hiding opponents or with their senses obscured and I am skilled in Genjutsu and Mind-manipulation techniques. So we should be able to win." Aoba said.

Anko grinned. "Don't worry brat, the four of us and your senseis will make sure you and your little friends get there and back in one piece. Now lets get the plan decided so I can pack and get Dango."

Following that, the plan was formed quickly. The next day at 9AM, they would leave the Village and travel Northwest to the Land of Waterfalls, where they would find the village. Anko and Aoba would travel a short distance ahead of Team 7 while Hayate and Yugao will travel behind. Team 7 would travel in a Cross Formation, with Kakashi at the front and Sasuke, Sai, Sakura and Yamato surrounding Naruto. Naruto didn't like that, since he felt he should be in a position to protect them rather than the other way around, but Sasuke quelled him by telling him that by being in the centre of them, he'll be able to move to and protect each of them without having to go through another Teammate.

"Okay, now that the plan is formulated, we can dismiss this meeting. We will meet at 8:45 tomorrow morning to prepare for the departure." Aoba said, before leaving to attend to his own business. Anko just smirked and yelled a goodbye as she leapt out the window, while Hayate and Yugao returned to their apartment.

Before the Genin could leave, Kakashi stopped them. "Okay guys, I think its time I assigned your four a little Homework. We are going to another country and another Ninja Village, so I want you to study these guidebooks to the Land of Waterfalls. Pay special attention to their geography and customs. Naruto may be the official Ambassador for the mission, but we as his escorts will also represent our village, so we need to be informed." Kakashi explained, handing them each a small guidebook with the Symbol of the Hidden Waterfall on the covers. All but Naruto took them with interest, while the Fox Boy just comforted himself that it was for the mission. He really didn't like reading, as he was more of a get up and go sort of person.

Once Team 7 departed, Naruto returned to the Hyuga Compound for Dinner, giving the job of reading to one of his Shadow Clones while another handled packing. Naruto ended up eating Dinner with not only Hinata's direct family, but some of the other Main Branch members as well.

"Uncle Hiashi, Hinata-chan, I need to tell you that I'm leaving the Village on a Mission to the Land of Waterfalls tomorrow. Kakashi-sensei believes we'll be gone for about two weeks." Naruto said as they sat around the table.

"Oh, your Team is going on a C-Rank already? It's only been a month." his Aunt Hikari commented.

"I know, but I was personally requested for it. It is a Diplomatic Mission. The Waterfall Village wants me to convince their Jinchuriki to leave them and come here to the Leaf." Naruto said, before going on to explain about Fu and Zabuza.

"Oh, that poor girl! I hope you can bring her here safely." Hinata said, her big eyes turning sad at the story.

"I'm going to try my best, but that leads me on to something else. Due to some political mumbo jumbo, Fu is going to be made an Honorary member of the Uzumaki Clan, in order to protect her from those that would use her as a weapon, or abuse her for her burden. But I don't trust that rat, Kisuke Haruno, to keep to the terms I made with the Hokage, so I was hoping she could stay here until I can set up a new Uzumaki Clan Compound." Naruto explained.

Hiashi and Hikari looked at each other thoughtfully while some of the Hyuga Elders scoffed. "The Main House of the Hyuga is not a boarding house for wayward Jinchuriki. We will not have a foreign ninja staying in this compound, especially a Jinchuriki! The container of some Ancient Demon is too dangerous to keep here." One elder declared.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Don't forget, "Honoured" Elder, that I am also one of those Ancient Demons!"

"Young man, you were chosen by fate to wield the powers of the dreaded Nine Tails and become a new, benevolent Tailed Beast. You have none of the Ancient Hatred and Corruption that the other Tailed Beasts have." the Elder responded.

"No, but people like you seem to be determined to give me New Hatred! I will be staying with Fu one way or another, either here or somewhere else. I won't abandon a comrade for any reason!" Naruto yelled, getting to his feet.

The Hyuga Elders were about to yell, but Hiashi froze them with a glare before turning to Naruto. "Naruto, be calm. I would be happy to allow this child to stay with us in our personal home within the Compound. The only issue is space, since we have no spare bedrooms."

"I would be happy to let her share a room with me. And if she insists on having her own private space, Hanabi-chan and I could always share." Hinata offered, receiving a grateful smile from her Boyfriend.

"I'd be okay with that." Hanabi said, not looking up from the small bowl of ice cream she was currently devouring.

The Elders looked shocked. "Hiashi-sama, stop and think for a moment! What will the rest of the Village think of us if we take this girl into our home?"

"Firstly, I am allowing her into my own, personal home within the compound. Any comments or judgements on that decision will fall on me. And secondly, would you rather we lose Naruto? His presence has gained us a lot of prestige from the Ninja population for housing him, and the Civilian population for supposedly keeping him under control. Making him leave would only make the clan look foolish." Hiashi explained.

Naruto, Hinata and Hanabi exchanged smirks. They loved when the Hyugas' own Arrogance was used against them. "V-Very well, Hiashi-sama. We trust you to make the right decision." the Elder from before conceded.

"Good, now I'll hear no more on the matter. Naruto, when you convince Fu to come here, send us a message with her preferred sleeping arrangements so we may get her room sorted before she arrives." Hiashi said.

"Ooh, can we welcome her home with a special meal? It's been too long since I got to cook personally." Hikari asked, grinning.

"I don't see why not. It would be best to show Fu, and her "tenant" that we are not going to judge or mistreat them." Hiashi nodded.

Naruto smiled wide. The Hyugas often had a reputation of appearing stuck-up and arrogant, especially because of the Elders and the Main Household, but Hiashi had been trying hard to erase that reputation and the behaviour that caused it. His efforts had been increased by the Hyuga Affair nine years previously, and the hatred that his nephew, Neji had for the Main Household. Hizashi had tried to correct his son's attitude, but Hiashi knew his brother resented the situation as well…

To Hiashi, Naruto and Hinata represented a possibility at a new future for the Hyuga Clan! And he would be damned if anyone got in the way of that; friend, foe or even family.

After Dinner, Naruto spent the evening with Hinata, idly chatting and generally just enjoying each others company. His clones had finished packing and reading the guidebook Kakashi gave him, and a good two hundred Shadow Clones were still out on their Training Ground, practising the **Yang Style:** **Nine Pillars of Heaven**. After a month of training with the jutsu, Naruto was able to perform it successfully once in every ten attempts!

"So, Hinata-chan, have you done Elemental Training yet?" Naruto asked.

"Not with my team, but its tradition for the Hyuga to learn their elements early, to determine their skill with the Gentle Fist. Only Earth Affinities can use it to its most effective level. I have a Lightning Affinity with Wind and Water secondary natures." Hinata answered, holding up her hand and making it crackle with a little bit of Lightning Chakra. "My natures are like my mother's, which is why she taught me her Gentle Wing Style. Hanabi-chan is more like father though, with a strong Earth Nature, though her actual Affinity is Fire."

"Ha! So Hanabi-chan really is like a little Fire Cracker! I bet the Elders loved that neither of you have an Earth Affinity." Naruto grinned.

"That's true. Neji is the one with the Earth Affinity, which made him more bitter when he found out. Luckily for Hanabi-chan, her Earth Nature is still more than strong enough to reach the level of a Main Household Hyuga, which is why the Elders have been pushing to make her Clan Heiress in my stead. If that happens, I'll be branded with the Caged Bird Seal, but its better me than her." Hinata said sombrely.

Naruto scowled. "Hinata-chan, I won't let them do that. You know I won't."

Hinata giggled. "I know, Naruto-kun, but you won't always be here. I need to be able to protect myself better. My Archery and my Gentle Wing Style has made me stronger, but I still can't defy the Hyuga Council."

"Then let me place a seal of my own on you." Naruto said, producing a single one of his fox tails. "Its the **Cursed Seal Rebound** , a seal that will forcibly reflect any Cursed Seal back on the caster. I worked with my Senseis over at the Seal Master's office to perfect it, with this sort of thing in mind."

Hinata blinked, hope shining in her eyes. "Can you really do that?"

"Well, it should work, theoretically. But naturally, I haven't had much of a chance to test it. It did work on the weak Curse Seals that Seal Masters tried to use on it, but I have no idea how it would work on a stronger seal. Still, isn't it worth the risk to protect you?" Naruto asked.

"Okay, Naruto-kun. Place the Seal on me. I'm not afraid of the Caged Bird Seal, but if this will protect me from it, then I'll have nothing to fear from the Hyuga Elders." the pale-eyed girl said, gently kissing Naruto on the cheek.

Naruto blushed and nodded, before placing the tip of his tail against Hinata's chest. Naruto then ran through dozens of handsigns as quickly as he dared, not wanting to make a single mistake. Once he was done, he clapped his hands together and a complex seal began to spread across Hinata's body. It created intricate rings of markings around her wrists, ankles and neck, as well as strips of markings that connected them beneath her clothing. Finally, they finished expanding and glowed blue, making Hinata's body feel tight, like it was being squeezed.

" **Contact Seal: Cursed Seal Rebound**!" Naruto cried. The seals turned from blue to red, before finally turning black and vanishing altogether, leaving Naruto panting from the exertion. "T-there, done. Yeesh, even with my monster reserves, making such a complex seal with only my chakra was hard!"

"That certainly felt strange, like it was squeezing me. Then it turned warm at the end and vanished. It felt a bit like you were hugging me." Hinata blushed.

"Well, how about I hug you for real, so you can compare?" Naruto said with a cheeky smile. Hinata giggled and the two embraced, lying on the wood of the porch, watching the Night sky.

The next day, Naruto with his bag packed, walked to the Great Gates with Hinata on his arm. She had promised to see him off and wish him well. When they arrived at 8:40 AM, they found Sai and the Protection Squad waiting already.

"Morning guys." Naruto smiled.

The waiting Ninja smiled and waved, while Sai just nodded to his teammate. "So, you brought the lady friend to see us off. How sweet." Anko teased.

"Jealous, Anko-chan?" Naruto teased back. Hinata blushed and giggled, making Anko smirk wider.

"Hmm, maybe I am. You are awfully cute, Naru-chan. Between you and Sasuke-chan, I wonder who would last longer...".

Naruto laughed, but Hinata held him possessively, giving a little glare to Anko. Of course, Hinata wasn't very scary looking and was about as threatening to Anko as a kitten. "Aren't you a little old for him?" Hinata asked, trying to imitate the cold and condescending tone that the Hyuga Elders used.

"Old? I'm only 19 years old! Mind yourself, little Kitten, or I might steal Naru-chan away from you. Or maybe I should steal you from him?" Anko stroked Hinata's chin with her index finger, making the girl blush harder.

Naruto smirked. "As hot as that would be, I am in a committed relationship here. It would take a lot of people doing something very stupid to make me consider other relationships!"

Elsewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village, the gathered Leaf Council sneezed.

Back at the gate, Anko continued her teasing with Hinata slowly becoming more comfortable, until she was able to handle most of the less explicit things without blushing. Sometime during their conversation, Sasuke arrived and nodded to the gathered team while doing his best to be unnoticed by Anko, less he become the victim of her advances. Sasuke preferred Anko over most of his Fan Girls, but even she got on his nerves, though he dare not say it.

Finally, just as it was about to turn 8:46, Kakashi and Yamato showed up. It wasn't until 8:55 that Sakura finally arrived, much to the surprise of her team.

"Sakura, you're late. That isn't like you." Sasuke said. It was worded like a statement, but the underlying question was clear.

"S-Sorry everyone. With it being my first C-Rank, my uncle wanted to talk to me and make sure I was prepared." Sakura said, breathing hard and pulling at her clothes, which looked like they had been pulled on in a hurry. Naruto wasn't a pervert, so he looked away, but he noticed a dark, purplish mark on Sakura's shoulder before it was covered by her clothes again.

An awful, sick feeling rose in Naruto's gut as something inside him screamed at him, but the boy ignored it, chalking it up to pre-mission nerves. This was their first big mission after all, not including the S and A-Ranks he'd been inadvertently involved in.

"Well, now that Sakura is here and we're all prepared, let's head out!" Hayate stated.

"Next stop, the Hidden Waterfall Village!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And now the journey to Waterfall gets under way. Next chapter we will meet Fu, Haku and Zabuza!**

 **As for the other two members of Zabuza's gang, they are NOT the Demon Brothers, but they are Characters from the Manga. The first person to correctly guess one or both of them in a PM or Review will get their votes doubled for the pairing poll!**

 **Also, I hope you liked the explanation of Fu and Particle Style. I felt it made sense and I like that all the Tailed Beasts have their own Unique Elemental Nature.**


	14. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 4

**AN:**

Whoop, now we get to finally see both Fu, and the main antagonists of this arc!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 4: THE SEVEN TAILS JINCHURIKI**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Sakura, you're late. That isn't like you." Sasuke said. It was worded like a statement, but the underlying question was clear._

" _S-Sorry everyone. With it being my first C-Rank, my uncle wanted to talk to me and make sure I was prepared." Sakura said, breathing hard and pulling at her clothes, which looked like they had been pulled on in a hurry. Naruto wasn't a pervert, so he looked away, but he noticed a dark, purplish mark on Sakura's shoulder before it was covered by her clothes again._

 _An awful, sick feeling rose in Naruto's gut as something inside him screamed at him, but the boy ignored it, chalking it up to pre-mission nerves. This was their first big mission after all, not including the S and A-Ranks he'd been inadvertently involved in._

" _Well, now that Sakura is here and we're all prepared, let's head out!" Hayate stated._

" _Next stop, the Hidden Waterfall Village!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

The journey to the Hidden Waterfall Village was a lot easier than Naruto had expected. It only took two days to reach the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls, and they had been required to stay and wait their for a day while some Waterfall Ninja checked their documentation and sent a message back to their village for confirmation. That had taken another day, so Kakashi had trained Team 7 in the second Nature Manipulation exercise, while Yamato and the Protection Squad guarded them. The journey had been pleasant and easy, with no signs of bandits or enemy ninja, but they still had to be careful, especially since they were close to the Land of Earth. The closest to antagonism they had seen was from the Waterfall Ninja, whom had been eager for them to take the Jinchuriki, until they learned who Naruto was. At that point, they gave the group the cold shoulder and it took considerable effort on Naruto's part not to unleash a monstrous number of pranks that would inevitably cause an international incident…

After their day at the border, Team 7 and their guards were allowed to continue into the Land of Waterfalls. The Land of Waterfalls was densely forested, just like the Land of Fire, but the trees were much larger with trunks that were as thick as most buildings and as tall as the walls of the Leaf Village. They were also greatly spaced out, and many strange mountains dotted the horizon.

"Those are dormant Volcanoes." Kakashi had explained. "A combination of rain and natural water springs fill the craters up with water, which then overflow, creating this land's signature Waterfalls."

"Just like the Guidebook said… Isn't the Hidden Waterfall Village built inside one of these craters?" Sakura asked.

"Yep! The biggest volcano in the land is where the village was built. The volcano's walls are so high and sheer, that they are unclimbable. The only way into the village is via a tunnel hidden behind a Waterfall." Naruto said, secretly eager to see it. He was trying to be professional as befitted his role as an ambassador, but how could he not be excited about the prospect of waterfalls hiding secret entrances to villages inside dormant volcanoes? He may be a Ninja, but he was still a twelve year old boy.

"Huh, with all the dormant volcanoes, You'd think they'd call it the Land of Volcanoes." was all Sasuke contributed to the conversation.

It took only a single day to reach the Waterfall Village from the border, and just like Naruto had said, it was the largest volcano they'd seen. It was twice the height of the Hokage Monument and was as wide as the entire Leaf Village at the base. Of course, this meant the crater and the village within was smaller than the Hidden Leaf, but that was expected from one of the weaker Ninja Villages. If it hadn't been for the Leaf's alliance with Waterfall, and the Sand's alliance with the Leaf, then the Hidden Stone would have conquered the small village and annexed the Land of Waterfalls into the Land of Earth.

The sun was beginning to set as they reached the massive waterfall which acted as the entrance to the village. Three Waterfall Jonin were waiting for them on the shore of the lake that the Waterfall emptied into. "I assume you are the Ambassador from the Leaf and his escort?" one Jonin said, addressing Kakashi.

The One eyed man nodded. "We are. However, it is Naruto Uzumaki whom is Ambassador." he said, pointing to the Blonde boy.

"Wait, the Jinchuriki is the Ambassador?" the Jonin frowned, coldly glaring at Naruto.

"I'm not a Jinchuriki. I'm a full-fledged Tailed Beast, but I have a human body as well." Naruto said, returning the glare. "And who better to convince a real Jinchuriki to leave?"

"Tch, I was under the impression that he was under control. Are we going to regret letting him into our village?" the Jonin spat, looking to Kakashi whom was glaring at the disrespectful Jonin.

"Naruto is perfectly in control of himself. We have never had an incident. Now, are you going to let us in, or will you explain to Shibuki that you refused us entry?" Kakashi growled.

Both the Protection Team and Team 7 were fully glaring at the Waterfall Jonin, whom suddenly felt a shiver go up his spine. "F-Fine! Just keep that thing on a leash while you're here! Grab the little bitch and leave." the jonin growled, before signalling to his two cohorts. They both nodded and performed several handsigns, which made the Waterfall split open and reveal the entrance to the village. The mouthy Jonin performed handsigns of his own, making earth rise up from the lake bed to create a path to the gate.

"Go inside already!" he yelled.

No longer wanting to be in this idiot's presence, Team 7 and their guards quickly walked into the tunnel behind the waterfall, before the path collapsed behind them and the Waterfall closed up. Luckily, the dark tunnel was illuminated by glowing crystal formations. "I hope the rest won't be as rude." Yugao commented, her hand clutched on the handle of her sheathed sword.

"Based on the reports about their treatment of Fu, I doubt this will be a pleasant trip." Yamato frowned.

"Come on. We need to meet with Shibuki and their council." Kakashi said, still pissed at the Jonin from before. If this hadn't been a mission and if Waterfall weren't allies of the Leaf, the silver-haired Jonin would have been sorely tempted to introduce that idiot to his Lightning Blade! Strangely, Naruto was acting calmly. _'Either he's playing the Ambassador part really well, or he's planning something...'_ Kakashi thought. In truth, Naruto was planning something. Once he convinced Fu to join him, he was going to unleash a wave of pranks that would go down in the history books!

Exiting the short tunnel, the Leaf Ninja finally emerged in the Hidden Waterfall Village, making the Genin gasp. The entire place was built on islands that dotted the giant lake that formed in the crater of the volcano. In the centre of the lake, on the largest of the islands, was a giant tree, which looked to have been hollowed out and converted into buildings. The islands were connected by the tree's roots, which had been carved into bridges and walkways. It was a beautiful village, but as soon as he stepped inside it, Naruto felt another sick feeling over come him. His instincts were screaming at him.

"Shibuki and the Council are in the tree, which acts as the Headquarters for the Village Ninja. We should go- Naruto, are you okay?" Aoba asked, making everyone turn towards the fox boy.

Naruto's hair was going wild and his whisker marks were becoming larger and more pronounced. His fox ears and tails appeared and with is enhanced hearing, Naruto discovered the reason for the sick feeling; he could now hear a girl screaming.

"Fu!" he cried, before running full pelt towards the source of the sound, running across the surface of the water towards an island on the far side of the lake from the entrance; once with a single, dilapidated house on it.

Kakashi cursed and slapped his forehead. "Damn it, if Naruto finds her being abused, there's no telling what he'll do! Yamato, you go with the Genin to help Naruto and calm him if necessary. We'll report this to Shibuki!" Yamato nodded and with a hand signal, he ran off after Naruto, with the Genin in hot pursuit. Kakashi lead the four members of the Protection Squad to the great tree, in hopes that Shibuki will be able to stop this whole thing from becoming an international incident.

Meanwhile, Naruto reached the island and found the source of the screaming. A young girl, around the age of Naruto, was curled up in a ball, surrounded by what looked like teenage Genin. Many held Kunai and a few were kicking at the downed girl. One hard kick made the girl throw her head back and scream, causing her mint green hair to flash before Naruto. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Naruto roared, before leaping and landing on top of Fu, his body crouched over her like a Fox protecting it's cub.

The Waterfall Genin stepped back, looks of terror and confusion on their faces as they tried to take in just what they were seeing. Naruto's eyes were red and slitted, his whisker marks and hair appearing wild and frayed while his Nine Golden Tails swayed angrily behind him. Even his claws were beginning to grow from his finger nails and an ungodly level of Killing Intent was pouring from Naruto, like the waterfalls that gave the village its name. Fu, on the verge of unconsciousness looked up at the boy protecting her and felt a familiar, comforting presence. She could sense the power of a Tailed Beast within him, but it felt different; like a warm bath as opposed to the Cold Maelstrom that usually came with the Demons' chakra.

"What the hell are you!? Another monster!?" One Genin yelled, holding his Kunai up and pointing it at Naruto.

Naruto snarled. "Another Monster? Believe me, I'm the FIRST monster you've met! And if you or any of these other bastards take one more step towards Fu, I'll be the LAST you meet!"

Those words were laced with so much Killing Intent that the weak willed Genin passed out, their eyes rolled back in their heads. The stronger, and less stupid Genin promptly fled, not looking back, but three Genin were both strong enough to resist passing out, but also stupid enough to ignore Naruto's threat. One was the boy pointing a kunai at Naruto, and the other two appeared to be his teammates.

"Hey Brat, just because you know some fancy tricks doesn't mean you can waltz into our village and order us around!" the main Genin spoke. He was a boy wearing a moss green muscle shirt, a pair of black Ninja pants and his headband around his bicep. He also had black hair that was slicked back, along with cold green eyes.

"Yeah! Daiki's right! You Leaf Ninja think you can order us around just because you're from a big village! Let's teach this punk a lesson, right Noriko?" the second boy yelled. He wore the same outfit as Daiki, though he wore his Headband as a bandanna to keep his brown hair back. His eyes were, strangely, yellow.

The girl of the group, Noriko, wore a black and green version of Fu's outfit and had long black hair. "Do not drag me into a fight with Demons, Fumihiro. This one isn't like Fu; he would be willing to attack us." she said, training her pale blue eyes on Naruto without a hint of fear.

Naruto grinned, showing his elongated canines. "You seem smarter than your teammates. Care to tell me why you have been picking on Fu?"

"I have nothing against her personally. My parents ordered me to ignore her and to assist if the other kids pick on her, if only to protect them should the Demon take over." Noriko said with a shrug. "I have no reason to stand against my family or friends for her sake."

Naruto growled again, but this time, the two male Genin lost their nerve and attacked; throwing their Kunai and hoping to the gods that they would kill the monster boy. Naruto moved to block them, but before they hit him, two blocks of wood shot out of the ground and stopped the kunai. Before Daiki or Fumihiro could react, they were wrapped up in Ink Snakes and Ninja Wire respectively, as Sai and Sakura appeared from behind the ruined house. Noriko rolled her eyes, but stopped when she felt cold metal pressed against her throat. Sasuke was behind her, holding a kunai of his own and his eyes glaring coldly at the girl, as if daring her to give him an excuse.

Yamato was the last to appear, having stopped the pursuit to create the wood blocks. He landed beside Naruto and shot him a look, which made the fox boy shiver. With a sigh, Naruto sat down beside Fu and began to meditate, to calm himself and bring his Human and Tailed Beast instincts back into balance. It worked, and Naruto began to revert to his Full Human Form. The Wood User of Team 7 then turned to Fu.

"Miss Fu, are you all right?" he asked kindly.

"Uh, yes." she said, her voice a little hoarse from the screaming. "This happens once a week or so. I'll be healed in a moment, see?" she held up her arms and the ugly cuts that marred her otherwise blemish free caramel skin began to smoke and close up.

"So advanced healing is a common Tailed Beast Skill and not exclusive to the Nine Tails? That's good to know." Yamato smiled. Fu nodded and looked to her saviour, the blonde boy beside her. Despite being fully human now, he was still meditating. Yamato noticed her look. "Worried about Naruto? Don't be. He just got himself worked up and is calming down. He is actually one of the nicest people in our village, at least until you threaten his precious ones."

Fu blushed a bit. "D-Does that mean he considers me precious? Why would he do that? Is it because we're both Jinchuriki?"

"Its complicated, but Naruto is not a Jinchuriki. We'll explain more later, but first, we need to deal with this." Yamato said, suddenly turning his trained "creepy" look on the three captive Genin. Daiki and Fumihiro shuddered, but Noriko looked unfazed.

Before Yamato or Team 7 could say anything, the rest of the Leaf Ninja leapt into the small clearing outside the damaged house, with another person with them. It was a man with long brown hair, wearing grey pants, a yellow kimono shirt and a turquoise haori with a red scarf around his neck.

"Shibuki-Nii-San!" Fu smiled, getting to her feet with some assistance from Yamato.

"Don't speak to Shibuki-sama so disrespectfully! He's not the brother of a demon!" Daiki yelled, only to be smacked in the head by the man.

"Daiki, you have already disobeyed me by attacking Fu and disgraced the village by attacking not only a guest, but an Ambassador! Do not embarrass our village further!" Shibuki roared, glaring at the three Waterfall Genin, before turning to the Leaf Genin holding them. "If you would, please release them."

Sasuke just shrugged and lowered his kunai, while Sakura and Sai undid their bindings. As soon as they were free, the Waterfall Genin grouped together and knelt down to their leader. Shibuki only watched them with barely restrained anger. "Get out of my sight. You can expect to be on D-Ranks for the foreseeable future, and if I catch even a whiff of trouble from any of you, you can forget about getting a shot at the Chunin Exams. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Shibuki-sama." the three Genin said, before running off as fast as they could.

At that moment, Naruto finally opened his eyes and stood up. "Ah, you're done already?" Yamato asked.

"Yes. Sorry everyone, I lost it a bit there…" Naruto sighed, before noticing some big orange eyes watching him. "You are Fu, right? I'm sorry you had to see that. It was kind of a crummy first impression..."

Fu just giggled and shook her head boisterously. "Are you kidding? That was amazing! No one but Shibuki-Nii-San has ever come to my rescue before, what with me being a Jinchuriki and all. So, can we introduce ourselves properly?" she asked, her bounciness contradicting her earlier position of abused little girl.

"Uh, sure. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Team 7 from the Hidden Leaf Village. I like my friends, my village, Ramen and the Tailed Beasts! I dislike people like those jerks from before, and those who judge others for what they are instead of what they do." Naruto introduced.

Fu's grin widened and she looked like she was about to burst into song! "My name is Fu! Genin from the Hidden Waterfall Village, though I don't have a team. I like Bugs, gardening, making friends and Dango! I dislike perverts and bullies. I also like you, Naruto!" she said, sticking her hand out to the Fox boy.

Naruto laughed and shook it. "I like you as well."

Shibuki smiled and stepped forward. "Naruto-sama, I am Shibuki, leader of this village. I must express my heartfelt thanks to you for protecting Fu-chan. As she said, I am the only one in the village who will protect her and I cannot always be there. Knowing she has made a friend makes me very glad." he said, bowing to Naruto and inadvertently making the Uzumaki very uncomfortable.

"Shibuki-sama! Please don't do the whole "bowing and -Sama" thing. It makes me fell weird. And besides, of course I saved Fu! It was the right thing to do, plus we are sort of like family." Naruto explained, putting his hands up.

"Wait, family? You mean because we're both Jinchuriki?" Fu asked, before remembering what Yamato said. "Or is there another reason?"

Kakashi chose that moment to clear his throat. "If its all right with you, Shibuki-sama, we should go and meet with your council. It would be best if we didn't explain Naruto's nature in public, and it is a fairly long story, so we wouldn't want to repeat it."

"Ah, yes of course. Please follow me to the Council Chambers, Jonin Hatake." Shibuki said, before leading them all to the giant tree. On the way, Fu introduced herself to the rest of the Leaf Ninja, whom introduced themselves in turn. The Green Haired Jinchuriki immediately got along with Sasuke and Anko, as she enjoyed their straightforwardness and Anko's love for Dango. Sakura was a little less willing and generally avoided talking at all, while Sai just made the token attempts at small talk for the sake of politeness. The other Leaf Jonin just smiled at the girl.

Fu really was a lot like an even more hyper, girly Naruto. All she wanted in life was some friends, which made the Leaf Ninja even more angry to see the hateful glares she got as they walked to the Waterfall Council Chambers. When they reached the Great Tree, they found that the inside was completely hollowed out and rebuilt, so it looked like any normal building on the inside.

"This Great Tree was once much more...organic, but previous Councils had more of it hollowed out and replaced by man-made structures, out of fear for its lack of stability. The decline of this tree is seen by many to be representative of the decline of our village." Shibuki said sadly.

"This place has seen better days. Back home in the Leaf, the Artisans Guild would throw a fit if they saw a building as damaged as the one where we found Fu." Sakura stated.

Fu frowned. "Hey, that's my house! I can't help it if no one wants to help me fix it!"

Shibuki cringed, guilt clear in his posture. "I'm sorry Fu, but you know I can't force people to help you. The Council would claim I was showing favouritism and have me removed from my position."

Fu nodded sadly. She knew why Shibuki didn't help her, even though he wanted to. He was already bending over backwards to protect her from being abused in worse ways, like being made into Breeding Stock to try and replicate the Particle Style she got from her Tailed Beast.

After climbing countless stairs to the top level of the Great Tree's trunk, Shibuki and the Leaf Ninja arrived at the Waterfall Council Chambers. Inside, two groups of twenty people were waiting patiently for their leader to enter with their guests. Naruto guessed that one half were Ninja and the other half were Civilian, based on their clothing, but their unified silence worried him. Back in the Leaf, the Civilians and Shinobi were constantly at odds, which allowed the Hokage to act as the Tie-Breaker and decide Village Policy, but with this council united, it meant Shibuki was nothing but a rubber stamp.

"Councillors, I have returned with Genin Fu, and our esteemed guests from the Hidden Leaf Village. Allow me to introduce them; Hayate Gekko, Anko Mitarashi, Yugao Uzuki and Aoba Yamashiro. They are here to apprehend those Missing-Nin invaders. And as for the others, they are Genin Team 7, lead by Kakashi Hatake and Yamato of the Wood Style." Shibuki introduced.

"Ah, so are we to assume Jonin Hatake is the Ambassador and one of these Genin is the beast?" an elderly councillor asked.

"Not exactly." Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of the Leaf and the Nine Tailed Fox." Naruto bowed stiffly to the room of councillors. "He is our Ambassador for this mission."

The Waterfall Council immediately began to whisper amongst themselves, a mix of fear, outrage and bewilderment permeating the room. "I see. Not to question the wisdom of your Hokage, but why make the beast the Ambassador?"

"Well, since you asked for me specifically and it's me whose going to be doing the negotiating, it seemed the wise thing to do, right?" Naruto said, beginning to get really annoyed with these Waterfall people questioning him.

The Councillors looked to Yamato and Kakashi, as if expecting them to reprimand the boy for speaking out of turn, but they just nodded along. The Old Councillor, apparently acting as spokesman stood up. "It seems the Hidden Leaf has not got you on as tight a leash as we were led to believe, Nine Tails. I am beginning to have doubts about letting you deal with the Jinchuriki."

At that, Fu cottoned on to what was really going on and began to panic. "W-What do you mean, "deal with me"!? What are you having him do to me!?" she cried, beginning to back away. She'd have made a run for it already, but the door was blocked by a Waterfall Jonin.

"Do not speak out of turn, girl!" a younger, obese councillor yelled. "You are property of the Village and we can do with you what we please!"

Naruto growled and began to move forward, but he was stopped by Yamato's hand on his shoulder. Fu, however, was not stopped. "Who the hell are you calling property! I'm a person, not a thing! Now what's going on here? And why did you call Naruto-kun the Nine Tails?"

The Councillors were about to scream at her, but Naruto stopped them with a glare before turning to Fu. "They call me Nine Tails, because I am. Its a long story, but basically, I was born a Human, but the entirety of the Nine Tails' Power, minus its Soul, was fused with me not long after I was born. The old Nine Tails essentially died and I became the new one. I'm a Tailed Beast with a Human Soul." Naruto explained.

"O-okay, so why are you here? If you're here to help me control my Tailed Beast's power, it shouldn't be hard. I'm on pretty good terms with her." Fu said, calming down a bit.

Shibuki swallowed hard and decided to simply bite the bullet. "Fu, these Ninja are here to take you to the Hidden Leaf Village. With those A-Rank Missing-Nin roaming about, we feel it would be safer for you in one of the Greater Nations."

"So, will I be coming back after the Missing-Nin are gone?" Fu asked, not liking where this was going.

"No. This is a permanent arrangement for the good of the Village. Once you leave, you are not to return." the old Councillor said, a strange amount of Glee hidden beneath his stoic tone.

Fu went pale and backed away. "N-No! You're not doing this to protect me or the Village, you just want to get rid of me! You can't kill me because your scared of the Seven Tails being released, so you got another Village to come and take me away!"

"Fu, I know this is your home but-" Naruto began, but was cut off by the green haired girl.

"NO! I won't just leave quietly! This is my home and I'm staying here!" Fu declared, before manifesting six dragonfly-like wings from her tail bone and flying out the window, shattering it in the process. Kakashi went to look out the window but shook his head.

"From this height, chakra won't save us if we fall. Only someone who can fly could chase her down. Ambassador Uzumaki, I think we should give her time to cool down and sleep on what we've told her." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded. His face bore a pained expression; he knew how he would feel if his own Village essentially kicked him out, so he didn't blame Fu for her actions. The Councillors were busy complaining and discussing punishments for Fu, but for the first time since he got the position, Shibuki put his foot down.

"Enough! We are already essentially banishing Fu from her home, I will not further torment her by adding punishments for a damned broken window! Now all of you, shut up and go home!" he roared, startling the council. They were used to the lamb of a leader they had dealt with so far, not this Lion that seemed to take his place. Without any more fuss, they promptly left, while Shibuki silently led the Leaf Ninja to his estate for the night.

Back at the dilapidated house that had been Fu's home since she was old enough to walk, the Jinchuriki girl was touching down, panting hard from the chakra exhaustion of using her wings and the emotional exhaustion. After everything she'd done and after all the hard work she'd put in to try and make the villagers like her, they had finally won. They would finally get rid of her.

Fu was about to burst into fresh tears, when she noticed two figures standing by her home, waiting for her. "Who are you?" she asked. "More Leaf Ninja?"

The shorter figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a feminine face with pale skin and long brown hair tied in a bun. The second figure joined the first, revealing a tall, muscular man with bandages around his mouth and massive sword on his back.

"We are not Leaf Ninja. My name is Haku, and this is my adoptive father, Zabuza Momochi." the newly dubbed Haku introduced.

Fu nodded a bit, before noticing the Mist symbol on the headband on Zabuza's arm. Eyes widening a bit, the girl examined Haku and sure enough, on the hip of her blue and green battle garb, was a Mist Hunter-Nin mask. "You are from the Hidden Mist? What do you two want with me?"

Haku smiled and held up her hand. "We wish to take you to a place, where you can be a hero and loved. A place where the Jinchuriki will live free."

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: Ooh, so now Fu is meeting our Antagonists for the Arc! Next chapter will have more of Fu with Haku, and then bonding with Team 7, while the Protection Squad Jonin run into one of Zabuza's cloaked accomplices!**


	15. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 5

**AN:**

Now we get to the first bit of action in this arc!

Fu seems to be a popular option for a pairing with Naruto as well, so we'll see how that develops.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 5: LIGHTNING BUGS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _The shorter figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a feminine face with pale skin and long brown hair tied in a bun. The second figure joined the first, revealing a tall, muscular man with bandages around his mouth and massive sword on his back._

" _We are not Leaf Ninja. My name is Haku, and this is my adoptive father, Zabuza Momochi." the newly dubbed Haku introduced._

 _Fu nodded a bit, before noticing the Mist symbol on the headband on Zabuza's arm. Eyes widening a bit, the girl examined Haku and sure enough, on the hip of her blue and green battle garb, was a Mist Hunter-Nin mask. "You are from the Hidden Mist? What do you two want with me?"_

 _Haku smiled and held up her hand. "We wish to take you to a place, where you can be a hero and loved. A place where the Jinchuriki will live free."_

 **XOXOXOX**

Fu had gone through most of her life alone. She was an orphan with no siblings or other family, and no one in her home village wanted to adopt her. In fact, most didn't spare her a second glance, and if they did, it was to spit and curse at her. The braver ones would attack her, sometimes with their fists and sometimes with weapons, but never did the orange-eyed girl retaliate, or do anything but run. For all the abuse, she wanted nothing more than to be loved and accepted by her village. She'd entered the Ninja Academy to try and prove to the people that she only wanted to protect them, and would never hurt them, but most people just saw that the training made her tougher and more dangerous, so her beatings increased in frequency and severity. It wasn't until after all the Jonin senseis and Genin Teams refused to let her join their teams upon her graduation that Fu learned why she was hated…

She was a Jinchuriki.

That had crushed Fu; she knew about them from history lessons and from talks with Shibuki-Nii-San and his father before him. And she knew that aside from having a Tailed Beast inside them, there was one thing that all Jinchuriki seemed to share; they were not loved by anyone. That, in Fu's mind, was a universal truth; Demon Containers like her were meant to exist as weapons; like glorified Kunai to be used and discarded. And who could love or be friends with a weapon…?

Sure, there was Naruto and he even wanted to take her to his home and make her a part of his family, but how could Fu know everything he and his allies had said was true? Fu had seen his powers and knew he was who he said he was, but that didn't mean the rest of it was true, and he hadn't mentioned how he was treated by his village. Maybe he too, was just a weapon that lived without love, just like her. That was the destiny of the Jinchuriki and their beasts, after all.

And yet here, stood in front of the Seven Tails Jinchuriki, was a girl and her adoptive father, whom were offering her the one thing she wanted most. It couldn't be true, could it? It had to be a lie, but after everything she had been through today, she couldn't help but wish that just once, this wasn't a lie. That she had finally found the ones to take her to the place she'd always wanted...

"A Place I could be loved? Where those like me will live in peace?" she muttered, "Why? What do you gain from this?"

The bandaged man, Zabuza, stepped forward. "We are from the Hidden Mist. I was outcast for trying to stop the Bloodline Purges, and my adoptive daughter Haku was a victim of it. She is the last of her kind and despised by her home country, just as I am. The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, is a Jinchuriki, just like you, but he has gone mad. We are searching for other Jinchuriki to help us defeat and overthrow him. If you help us, then you will be seen as a Hero by the Rebellion, and loved by the people of the Mist." he spoke the words gruffly, and sounded almost bored. It felt very rehearsed.

Fu was beginning to get a bad feeling, but a voice spoke in her mind. **"He is not lying, Fu. H** **i** **s words are genuine, despite being rehearsed. However, I also doubt he will let us go quietly if we refuse."** The Seven Tails said.

" _I know, Chomei. But what do I do? Zabuza Momochi is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and is one of the Missing-Nin that those Leaf Ninja are hunting!"_ Fu spoke mentally.

" **See if he will let us think on it. If he allows us to wait a day before deciding, then we should put a bit of trust in him. If not, then he is a foe and must be driven back!"**

" _But I don't want to leave the village!"_ Fu almost cringed as the thought crossed her mind. She didn't care about leaving, she just didn't want those that abused her to get their way.

Chomei clicked her pincers together, as if imitating a human clicking their tongue. **"Don't be ridiculous! This place hates you and hurts you because of me! And since you can't be rid of me until you die, you've got three options; Stay in Waterfall and suffer, go to the Leaf with Kurama's Incarnation or go to Mist with these guys. If we can get Zabuza to wait a day, I can talk to the Nine Tails myself and get answers from him about the Leaf! Then we can decide where to go!"**

Fu's face became downcast, while Haku and Zabuza watched quietly (and impatiently, in Zabuza's case). "C-Can I have a day to think about all this? I mean, you are asking me to leave my village and join another one, even if its for a good reason."

Zabuza growled, but Haku gave him a calming look before turning back to Fu. "That is acceptable. However, I will be watching you, to make sure you don't give anything away to the Waterfall Ninja or the visiting Leaf Ninja." Haku said, before casting a transformation to make her clothes change to a simple, pink kimono and removing the bun in her hair.

"Won't it cause suspicion for the Village Jinchuriki to be with a stranger?" Fu asked.

"Most people in the village will assume I am a Leaf Ninja. However, if they do ask, we'll just say I'm the daughter of a travelling merchant who is in town. We came to the village with a caravan of them, so it will be a believable excuse." Haku said, smiling kindly at Fu. Unlike Zabuza, she was much calmer and more friendly towards others, though this was in part due to her near-death experience with the Leaf Ninja in the Land of Waves… The Hyuga boy had nearly killed her with his Gentle Fist and it had triggered Zabuza to panic and admit his parental feelings for the girl, which turned Haku from a tool to a kind, if still cool-headed, Kunoichi. It had also saved their lives, as the fatherly moment between Zabuza and Haku had moved Might Guy to tears, giving them a chance to escape after killing Gato.

Fu took a moment to think, before nodding. It would make talking to Naruto a little harder, but as long as she got even a little bit of her chakra into him, Chomei would be able to communicate with him. "Okay, I'll accept that. Do you have a place to stay?" she asked.

Zabuza nodded. "We do. Naturally, I'm not going to tell you where it is, just in case you turn on us. Now I need to find the others. Haku, stay with the brat." he said, before stalking off into the shadows and vanishing.

Fu huffed while Haku chuckled. "Please excuse my father. He is...not a people person." she said.

The Jinchuriki girl was about to make a sarcastic response, but she was interrupted by a sudden, massive bolt of lighting striking down in the middle of the Village's Commercial District. "What the heck!?" she screamed, looking towards the smoke.

Haku groaned and palmed her face. "It seems one of our companions has had a run in with the Leaf Ninja."

 **(Hidden Waterfall Village Commercial District: A short time ago)**

Team 7 sat in their hotel suite, wearing expressions of anger, irritation and disappointment. Shibuki had left only moments ago, and the Protection Squad, minus Anko, had gone with him to discuss their hunt for the Missing-Nin. Naruto was doing his damnedest to meditate and release some of the anger that had sprung from meeting the Waterfall Council, while his Teammates idly practised their Nature Manipulation with some leaves. After only a few minutes, Naruto growled loudly and got to his feet.

"I'm going to bed." he said, before marching to his room and slamming the door behind him.

Anko, Yamato and Kakashi looked between each other, but shrugged. They knew Naruto was in control and to be honest, they couldn't blame him for being rightly pissed at the Waterfall Village. The Seven Tails was essentially his older sister, and Fu was a kind and cheerful girl despite her poor treatment. So to see her in such distress had really gotten to the young Fox. Sakura was strangely silent and generally acting unlike her usual safe. And Sai was, well, he was Sai.

Only Sasuke was acting normally, which frustrated the young Uchiha. "Kakashi-sensei, can we talk in private?" he asked, finally tiring of the tense atmosphere of the room.

Kakashi looked up from his Icha Icha book and raised an eyebrow before shrugging and putting the book away. "Sure thing. Let's go for a walk." he said casually. The Jonin silently led Sasuke out of the room, giving a faint nod to Anko and Yamato, before heading down to the Hotel Bar. It was fairly late in the evening at this point, so it was mildly busy, but most of the patrons were drunk and distracted, so the two could talk in relative peace without seeming suspicious to the Waterfall ANBU Kakashi knew were watching.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, sitting on a Bar Stool. Sasuke joined him and sighed.

"We've only just arrived and it feels like this mission is already slipping through our fingers. Naruto is beyond pissed, and if he was a Jinchuriki rather than a Tailed Beast, he probably would have gone berzerk by now. On top of that, Sakura was been acting extremely weird." Sasuke admitted.

The one eyed Jonin tilted his head quizzically. "I understand that things haven't been going well, but that's how it goes sometimes, especially on Diplomatic Missions like this one. And you know as well as I do that Naruto will bounce back as soon as Fu comes around and agrees to come with us. He views her as a comrade and a friend, so there's no way he can relax while she is distressed. But what's this about Sakura? Aside from being a bit less hostile to Naruto, I haven't noticed much of a difference."

The dark haired boy shook his head. "It may look like that to you, but I...I've been watching Sakura long enough to learn all her little tells. She isn't being vocal, but I can practically feel her hatred roll off her whenever she's near Naruto, or Fu for that matter. Not only that, but her...advances… have become more intimate."

Kakashi blinked. "What? What's she been doing?"

"Well, whenever she manages to get me alone with her, she tries very hard to talk me into...using her. In her own words, she said she was mine to do with what I pleased. Like she was a toy. She's had a crush on me since we were little, but this only started when we first left the Village. That was also when she started giving off the intense hate for Naruto." Sasuke explained. Normally when intimate things were brought up, he would blush and become flustered (which often amused Naruto and Hinata), but this time Sasuke went pale and looked sick.

"That was also the day she was late… She's usually earlier than everyone. Plus, she did appear dishevelled, and caring too much about her appearance is one of her flaws, so it is certainly unusual. Sasuke, you are more familiar with her than I am, so I need to ask you seriously; do you think Sakura was replaced by an imposter?" Kakashi asked, his one visible eye trained on the young Uchiha.

Sasuke thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I don't think she's an imposter. Her behaviour is odd, but if she wasn't the real Sakura, Naruto would have sensed it. He is a Tailed Beast after all."

Kakashi was about to respond, when he felt a powerful presence behind him. He and Sasuke turned to find what appeared to be a normal Civilian Woman. The woman had a strong blush on her face and a goofy grin, likely caused by the excess of Alcohol she had no doubt imbibed.

"Hey, did you two just say your friend is a Tailed Beast? Like that green girl?" she asked.

Sasuke growled, thinking this woman was just going to insult his friend and Fu, but Kakashi saw further. Look underneath the underneath…

"Excuse me, but why ask us that? And isn't it rude to eavesdrop on our chat?" Kakashi said, casually reaching for a Kunai. At that, Sasuke cottoned on. They hadn't been whispering, but in the dull roar of the crowded hotel bar, no one would have been able to hear them unless they were specifically trying to listen in.

The woman giggled a bit before walking out of the bar, swaying her hips in a seductive fashion to try and make the two male Ninja follow her. Kakashi and Sasuke did indeed follow her, but it wasn't for the reason most men would have…

Kakashi held his Kunai tightly, while Sasuke held the handle of his Chokuto blade as they followed the strange woman out of the hotel and into the alley across the street. Once there, Kakashi stopped. "Alright, now why don't you show us who you really are?"

The woman grinned and flashed the Release Sign, causing her transformation to drop and revealing who she really was. The woman before them was shorter than average for an adult female, and she had simple black eyes, strange shark like teeth and long red hair, some of which had been done up in a strange style that resembled both bangs and Rabbit Ears. Her clothing consisted of Ninja Sandals, bandaged ankles, black hakama pants, a large dirty green and pinstriped shirt that extended down to her thighs, a black obi sash to reveal where her waist was inside that oversized shirt, and most worryingly for Kakashi, a Mist Headband.

"Why would you want to know about little old me, when we could be talking about someone much more interesting?" the woman smirked. "Like that Tailed Beast you mentioned."

Kakashi narrowed his eye and pulled up his headband, revealing his left eye; which bore the Uchiha's famed Sharingan. Seeing it, Sasuke wanted to question him on how he got it, but decided now wasn't the time, as the strange woman brandished two straight swords, each with a fang-like protrusion near the tip and base of the blade.

"Sasuke, run and warn the others. This foe is an A-Ranked Missing-Nin and member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Ameyuri Ringo! She was touted as the strongest Kunoichi in the Land of Water, before her defection. She is likely the Lightning Wielder that Guy's team encountered with Zabuza." Kakashi explained, his Sharingan trained on Ameyuri as she struck her swords against each other, making sparks and tiny bolts of lightning fly around and illuminate the dark alley.

Sasuke nodded and backed off, before asking "Should I get Naruto as well?"

The Copy Ninja shook his head. "Tailed Beast or not, I'm not willing to risk any of my Genin against an opponent of this calibre! Just warn Anko and Yamato; the others will find us on their own."

Without a further word, Sasuke shot off to warn the others, while Kakashi took a deep breath and prepared to fight. Ameyuri grinned and licked her lips "Hmm, you certainly look like a Good Meal! I haven't had one since that strange man in Wave, and I didn't even get to finish him. Here's hoping you are more satisfying." she said. Kakashi wasn't sure if she was making Innuendos or genuinely wanted to eat him, but decided that was a thought best left for another day.

"Ameyuri Ringo, surrender now and your life will be spared. I cannot guarantee your safety if we fight." Kakashi declared.

The shark toothed woman gave her answer by lunging at Kakashi, stabbing her right blade towards his chest while her left one went for a slash at his leg. Kakashi sidestepped the left strike and caught the right with his kunai, before pushing the woman away with a chakra-infused blow. Ameyuri dodged back and formed a ball of thunder on the end of her two swords. " **Lightning Style: Lightning Fang**!" she cried, shooting the electricity towards Kakashi. The Lightning blast was big enough to envelop the narrow alley, forcing Kakashi to escape by diving underground. The red haired swordswoman chuckled and stabbed at the ground, narrowly missing Kakashi as he leapt up beside where her sword struck, and slashed at her, grazing her cheek.

"Mm, you'll make a great feast after all! Come on, let's fight more!" she grinned madly, licking the blood that oozed from her cut cheek. She laughed and swung both blades at Kakashi, whom ducked back underground to evade, before leaping up again and landing another blow across the small of her back.

' _Damn, a little deeper and he'd have paralysed me! This guy isn't playing!'_ she thought. Deciding to take things seriously herself, Ameyuri stabbed both blades into the ground and released Lightning Chakra into the earth, in an attempt to flush Kakashi out. It was no sooner than she starting releasing the Chakra that Kakashi popped up and promptly ran through handsigns. " **Wind Style: Gale Palm**!" he yelled, creating a small gale which blew Ameyuri, sans her swords, out of the alley and into the main street.

"Oh ho! You must be tough to resist that much Lightning Chakra." Ameyuri stated as Kakashi placed himself between her and her swords.

"Well, it helps that I have a Lightning Nature." Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. The swordswoman saw the crease of the cloth and thanks to her experience with Zabuza, knew he was smirking.

"Smiling huh? Finally getting into it I see!" she said cheerfully.

"Oh, not really. Especially since it's over now." Kakashi stated, as he sensed five familiar Chakra Signatures and many unfamiliar ones. In an instant; Yamato, Anko, Hayate, Yugao, Aoba and dozens of Waterfall Jonin were surrounding the swordswoman, all with their weapons drawn, their handsigns weaved and their jutsu primed.

Anko was the first to speak. "So, Zabuza's shacked up with another of the Mist Swordsmen. I'm willing to bet his other two accomplices are members too."

Ringo sighed. "Ah, Copy Ninja Kakashi, to think you'd end our fight in such a boring way! I'm disappointed. No matter, I've had some good drinks and a prelude to a good fight, so I'll leave for now. But I will be back later, and you can bet your ass we'll be taking those Jinchuriki!"

"You aren't going anywhere, we have you surrounded." Yugao said, her katana only inches from the Missing-Nin's throat.

Ameyuri smirked. "Oh do you now?" she said, before turning into lightning and zapping towards Yugao. The ANBU was able to dodge easily, but a Waterfall Jonin behind her was fried.

"Damn it, a Lightning Clone!" Aoba yelled. "Where's the real one."

Kakashi widened his eyes and turned around to see the real Ameyuri still stood with her swords. "Now, it's been fun, but I must be off. But first, a little parting gift!" she laughed.

Using his Sharingan, Kakashi could tell what Ameyuri's Chakra was doing and it made his blood run cold. "Every body, GET AWAY!" he yelled, before leaping away. The other Leaf Ninja and most of the Waterfall Ninja got away, but a couple weren't as lucky.

Lightning began to connect the pommel of the two buried swords to the clouds above, and a deep rumbling echoed across the village. " **LIGHTNING STYLE: THUNDER GATE**!" she roared. In an instant, a massive bolt of lightning struck down where the swords were, creating an explosion that incinerated those few ninja that hadn't gotten away, along with a large portion of the street and the near entirety of the buildings directly connected to the alley. When the smoke and rubble finally cleared, Kakashi cursed. All that was left was a massive crater, right outside their hotel, with no sign of Ameyuri or her two swords.

Feeling the drain on his chakra, Kakashi covered his Sharingan again. Anko groaned, "I hope Shibuki doesn't expect us to pay for this..."

The Team 7 Senseis rolled their eyes. "We should head back and check on the Genin. Unfortunately, Ameyuri now knows one of them is a Jinchuriki, so she'll be informing her allies. We'll need to guard all of them, to stop them being kidnapped and interrogated." Yamato stated. The Protection Squad nodded and remained on the scene while Kakashi and Yamato returned to their Hotel Suite. When they entered, they found the curious sight of Sasuke, Sakura and Sai all sitting on a struggling Naruto, whom was growling and whining in Fox Form.

Kakashi barely suppressed a snicker at the sight. "So, I take it he wanted to go and join the fight?" he said with a jovial tone.

"Yeah right. The idiot was fast asleep until that damned thunder strike! It freaked him out and sent him into Fight or Flight mode!" Sasuke groaned as one of Naruto's free tails gently batted him in the face for the umpteenth time. "If he keeps doing this, I'm going to be coughing up fur balls!"

Sakura looked like she was seriously considering the repercussions of stabbing her Fox Teammate, while Sai was mildly amused. "Well, it seems Naruto has a stronger Animal Side than we thought. Even if Tailed Beasts have Human Level intelligence, they still have their animal instincts. Perhaps he would calm down if we gave him some treats?" Sai said, though his tone made it hard to tell if he was joking…

"Damn it Sai! I don't want any treats, I want you to get off me! I need to go and check that Fu's okay!" Naruto growled, internally weighing the pros and cons of biting the pale boy's ankles.

"Fu will be fine. I put a tracking seed on her when we were in the Council Chambers. If she leaves the village, I will know about it." Yamato said.

"But what if they find the seed and remove it?" Naruto fretted. Team 7 couldn't really blame him, since Fu was the closest he'd ever gotten to someone who truly understood the sort of life he lived, even if his suffering was a pale shadow compared to hers.

"If my seed comes in contact with foreign chakra, or loses contact with Fu's chakra, I will know. It cannot be fooled." the Wood User said, a hint of pride in his voice.

Naruto looked up at the man and met his reassuring gaze. There was nothing for it; with Ameyuri still in the area, he'd never be let out to roam around the Village. And if he did find Fu, alone in the middle of the night, the two of them would be prime targets. "Yamato-sensei, does your seed have any way of defending Fu?"

"Not actively, but if it comes in contact with a certain amount of Tailed Beast Chakra, it will grow into a tree that will both bind and protect the Jinchuriki. It is the same principle as those _other_ trees I made in the village, with the special amber."

Naruto and Sasuke both flashed back to the Stasis chamber inside the Hokage Monument. "O-okay… I guess I'll let it go for tonight. But first thing tomorrow, I'm going to find Fu, and if someone has hurt her, then mark my words, there will be Hell to pay!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: Okay, this chapter went a little longer than I intended. Because of that, I had Fu and Team 7's bonding moved to next chapter, and it will now include some stuff between Sasuke and Sakura including the start of Sakura's redemption arc.**

 **Also, nobody guessed Ameyuri's identity before this chapter, though a couple of people did come really close! As for the remaining mystery ninja, one person has guessed it, but since no one got Ameyuri, I'm allowing anyone who wants to to have another shot at their identity! Remember, a successful guess will have your votes for the Pairings doubled!**


	16. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 6

**AN:**

 **SUPER IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to a combination of the Holidays and an illness, this will be the last chapter of 2016! Updates will continue as normal on the 2nd January 2017.**

 **Also, sorry for late chapter; I was travelling!**

This should be the one of the last two chapters before the major action of the Arc begins. This one is focused on Sakura and her redemption as a character.

WARNING: Mentions of Child Abuse will be in this chapter.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 6: SAKURA BLOSSOMS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Naruto looked up at the man and met his reassuring gaze. There was nothing for it; with Ameyuri still in the area, he'd never be let out to roam around the Village. And if he did find Fu, alone in the middle of the night, the two of them would be prime targets. "Yamato-sensei, does your seed have any way of defending Fu?"_

" _Not actively, but if it comes in contact with a certain amount of Tailed Beast Chakra, it will grow into a tree that will both bind and protect the Jinchuriki. It is the same principle as those other trees I made in the village, with the special amber."_

 _Naruto and Sasuke both flashed back to the Stasis chamber inside the Hokage Monument. "O-okay… I guess I'll let it go for tonight. But first thing tomorrow, I'm going to find Fu, and if someone has hurt her, then mark my words, there will be Hell to pay!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

The Next day came slowly for Sasuke Uchiha, whom had a remarkably hard time sleeping after all the excitement from the day before, including his chat with Kakashi about Sakura. Sitting up in bed, the boy looked around at the other occupants of the room. Yamato, Naruto and Sai were all still asleep, with Sakura sharing another room with Anko and Yugao, while Kakashi shared with Hayate and Aoba. Sai and Yamato were silent as they slept and would likely be able to burst into action at a moment's notice if they needed to… Naruto on the other hand was out like a light and snoring softly. Sasuke just thanked his lucky stars that he slept in Fox Form that night, as his Human Snoring would have further cut into what little sleep he had gotten… He still didn't know why his snoring was quieter as a fox, but at this point, he didn't want to question it.

Getting up and getting ready for the day, Sasuke showered and dressed in his usual outfit; the dark blue shirt with the Uchiha Symbol, and the white shorts. He'd also added ANBU-style Arm and Leg Guards to give some protection to his bare limbs without reducing his manoeuvrability. Leaving the bedroom and moving into the Living room of the Suite, Sasuke found he wasn't the only one awake, as Sakura was also up, silently practising some Taijutsu Katas.

"Morning, Sakura. Training early, I see." Sasuke said with a small smile.

Sakura blushed and immediately stopped. "G-Good Morning, Sasuke-kun!" she said, hurriedly patting down her hair and clothes to make herself presentable. Sasuke smirked a bit, finding the girl's flustered act to be rather cute.

"Heh, at least this part of you is still the same..." he muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

"What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Nevermind. Did you want to go and get some fresh air before the others get up? Its still too early for breakfast and I was hoping to spend some time with you today, for a private talk."

The Pink-haired girl immediately blushed and seemed to glow with happiness! Surely this meant that Sasuke-kun had finally accepted her! That he would stop hanging around with that awful beast and come and love her! All these thoughts were cut into by her more rational side. "I'd love to, Sasuke-kun, but shouldn't we wait for the others to get up?"

"It'll be fine. I'll leave a note." Sasuke said, fishing through his tool pouch and retrieving a soldier pill. Placing it in his teeth, the Uchiha ran through some Handsigns. " **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" he called. A perfect replica of Sasuke appeared in the room and the real one crunched the pill to restore his lost chakra.

Sakura's eyes widened. "You can use the **Shadow Clone Jutsu**?" she asked.

"Yeah, I learned it from Naruto. You can learn a lot from him if you just ask, though I can only make two clones at the moment, and it nearly knocks me out." Sasuke explained before looking towards the clone. "You know what to do."

The clone nodded. "Got it, Boss."

With that, Sasuke and Sakura went to get some fresh air, specifically by going to the Hotel roof. They stood there together, while Sakura looked over the railings and saw the destruction from the day before. The crater from Ameyuri's attack was still there and was being worked on by some Civilian Construction Workers and a few Waterfall Genin (including the ones that attacked Fu the previous day). Sakura glared at the destruction.

"Whenever Tailed Beasts are involved, we humans are the ones who suffer..." she muttered darkly, making Sasuke growl.

"Sakura, this wasn't Fu's fault, or Naruto's! It was that psycho that was hunting them." Sasuke said angrily.

Sakura frowned. "But if Fu wasn't here, then neither would the ones hunting her. Whether it was her fault or not, the village still suffered because she was here."

Sasuke felt his anger rising. Fu was the one suffering! Sakura knew that, and before leaving the Leaf, she had even pitied the Green Haired Girl! "What the hell is wrong with you, Sakura!? When we first heard about Fu, back before leaving the Leaf Village, you felt sorry for her! You wanted to help her just like Naruto did!"

The Haruno girl whimpered and backed away. She didn't know how to react here… she wanted Sasuke to love her, but she needed to hate the Tailed Beasts! She needed Sasuke to hate the Tailed Beasts. "Why do you care so much about them?" she said quietly. "Humans are supposed to hate monsters..."

Sasuke calmed a bit, seeing how scared and conflicted the girl was. "I care about Naruto, because he is my friend, and he saved me from going down a really bad path. And I care about Fu, because she is an innocent, being abused for something she didn't do. The Tailed Beasts and their Jinchuriki aren't monsters; they've just been twisted by hatred, due to Humans using them as weapons. And trust me when I say this; being twisted by hate isn't exclusive to them. It's just easier to target them because of their scary appearance."

Sakura's face was a picture of conflict. She wanted to argue, but she couldn't upset Sasuke further, her heart wouldn't take it. But what else could she do? Sasuke saw the conflict and spoke again. "Why do YOU hate them? Why did you suddenly change your mind about Fu? What changed between that planning meeting at the Hokage Tower, and you meeting us the next day? Was it something with your Uncle?"

"D-Don't talk about my Uncle!" she yelled, becoming angry at Sasuke for the first time in her life. "He's all I've got left! What kind of awful child wouldn't listen to the only person who took them in!?"

Understanding dawned on Sasuke's face. So it was Kisuke Haruno who was behind all this. Sasuke cursed himself; he should have known that vile Jonin would try indoctrinating his niece against the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki. "Sakura, let me tell you this, honestly and bluntly, just because someone shares your blood, doesn't make them right, or a good person. I know that from experience."

The pain in Sasuke's voice made Sakura flinch. Of course, he was right… the Uchiha Massacre, inflicted by someone that Sasuke had considered like a second brother, had taught him that hard lesson. Sakura went silent for a few moments; she wasn't stupid, she knew that her behaviour had been wrong, and that Naruto wasn't a bad person… But her uncle was all she had left in the world, and with time, it became easy to trick herself into believing everything he said, if only to ease her own burden. It was selfish, but Sakura couldn't defy her only family for the sake of Naruto, could she?. "It...it's not right, to hate a member of your family, is it? It feels wrong… it hurts..."

"Hatred always feels like that, no matter who its directed against. There is no "right" way to hate a person… Hatred as a feeling isn't something anyone should feel, whether it be to an enemy, a family member or even a Tailed Beast. I don't know what Kisuke Haruno has told you, but it is a lie. He has always wanted a piece of the Uchiha Clan's power; my brother told me this himself! He's always sided with them, and hates Naruto because he blames the Nine Tails for what happened to the Uchiha. But my clan did this to themselves, and Naruto is innocent. Talk to him; talk to Naruto and forget what your uncle told you. You'll find he's a very different person than you'd expect." Sasuke said, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Within her heart, she could feel her Uncle's thoughts fade away, like fog on glass. When Sakura thought about her foxy teammate, without Kisuke Haruno's words in her mind, she saw the blonde in a new light. He was a strange, slightly eccentric and somewhat annoying ninja, but with a kind heart which had been able to heal Sasuke's hatred and slowly erode the strict traditionalism of the Hyuga… Maybe, after all that she'd done, there was still a place for Sakura at the side of the Nine Tails.

Sakura smiled a bit before nodding. "O-okay Sasuke-kun, I'll try. But I think it will be hard, since Naruto probably hates me..."

At that, Sasuke laughed. "Ha! That idiot doesn't hate anybody. Just apologise to him and he'll forget every bad thing you've ever said or done to him. But don't fake it; one of his special Tailed Beast abilities is sensing and identifying negative emotions, so he'll be able to spot a lie."

"Okay. I'll need to apologise to Fu as well… I was pretty rude to her yesterday." Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded. "I understand. I went through the same thing with the Council when I first turned myself around. Fu will understand, I'm sure of it. But there is something more I wanted to ask."

"What is it?" Sakura asked. The Uchiha boy gathered his courage and took a deep breath. He had a hunch and prayed he was wrong… if he was right, things would get complicated when they returned home. He moved his hand from Sakura's shoulder, and quickly pulled up the left sleeve of her dress. There, clear as day, was a thick purple bruise.

"Was it your uncle, who gave you this?" he asked, a mix of sadness and anger in his voice.

Sakura went pale and leapt back, getting a few feet between her and Sasuke. "N-No! It was...it was a training exercise that went wrong!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Sakura, did you forget what department I was assigned to when we became Genin? I was assigned to the Military Police. Part of my training is analyse and profiling. I can tell a lot about a person by the way they move and act; both criminals...and their victims. And Sakura, you have all the tell-tale signs of a Child Abuse Victim." he said seriously. As a Genin, Sakura was a registered Ninja and considered an adult by the village, but it was likely that Kisuke's actions stretched back to before her graduation, and abuse cases like Sakura's were treated as Civilian cases if the first instance was before she entered the Academy.

"N-No! You're wrong! My uncle is doing anything like that!" she argued, though even she could tell her words sounded dishonest. Sasuke was having none of it.

"I'd wager those marks extend to under your clothes as well. He's been beating you, to force you to hate Naruto, and to force you to love me. He's using pain and brainwashing to try and make you into a pawn in his plans." Sasuke frowned.

Sakura was crying now, and she was almost unable to form words, but one sentence did slip through. "No Sasuke-kun! He didn't force me to love you! I really do! That is the honest truth, I swear!"

The Uchiha blushed a bit and almost smiled. He had always thought Sakura was a cute girl, and when she was taking her training seriously and not insulting Naruto, she was even more desirable, but ever since the suspicions of Child Abuse had appeared in Sasuke's mind, he'd given up hope that her feelings for him were real. Still, there was a time and a place for that, and it was after Sakura was free from her Uncle's clutches. Carefully, Sasuke walked towards Sakura, his hands in front of him to show he wasn't planning anything. Once he reached her, he gently pulled her into a hug and held her there while she calmed down. Sasuke indulged himself a bit by breathing her scent and feeling her warmth as she clung to his body.

"Okay Sakura. Tell you what; I will give you an honest answer to your feelings when we return from this mission. But I need you to do something for me." Sasuke said.

"Yes, I'll do anything!" Sakura said in a hoarse whisper.

"When we return to the suite, I'm going to tell our Senseis about all this. Then either Anko or Yugao will examine you, to see how far your Uncle has gone. When we return to the village, we will tell this to the Hokage and your Uncle WILL be punished for his actions, and he will never go near you again. I will see to it you have a home and people to care for you. Heck, I'll even ask Itachi-nii-san and my mother if you can stay with us. Is that fair?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura took a moment to think. She didn't like the idea of telling the Senseis or being examined, but she knew that would be unavoidable. She was afraid of what her Uncle would do, but once Sasuke told the Hokage and Itachi, then Sakura would be safe… but one other thing was bothering her.

"D-Do I have to tell Naruto and Sai?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke shook his head gently. "No. I won't make you tell them, though they will likely find out on their own. I know that Naruto suspects it, and Sai probably already knows and just didn't say anything. But I would recommend telling Naruto. Once he knows for sure, he'll protect you fiercely, in a way that not even Hokage-Sama will be able to."

Sakura nodded softly. "Okay, I'll tell him. Can we go now? I want to get this over with."

Sasuke smiled and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "I'll stay with you, and I'll talk for you if you don't think you can. Be brave, Sakura-chan, this will all be over soon."

The young Haruno girl smiled warmly, feeling like Sasuke really was returning her feelings, in his own way. He wasn't outright saying it, but that wasn't his way, so his hand in hers and his use of -chan, said everything his words didn't. For the first time in Sakura's memory, she felt completely safe.

The two Genin returned to the Hotel Room and found everyone up and awake, with the whole Protection Team there and discussing what they would do for the day. Everyone reacted with warmth and teasing when they saw Sakura and Sasuke walk in, hand in hand, but that hadn't lasted long when Sasuke told them about their talk and what he had discovered about Kisuke Haruno. Everyone sat in eerie silence as Sasuke explained, and Sakura occasionally added comments or corrections on things. The silence continued when Yugao took Sakura into the Girls' bedroom to examine her, leaving the rest of Team 7 and their escorts to wait in the living room, stewing in their emotions.

Kakashi had suspected it, but having his suspicions confirmed left him with a bitter feeling. Yamato and the other Jonin remained stoic, as they had all seen or heard these sorts of things before, and found the best way to deal with things was to accept it and move on. Anko struggled the most out of the adults, as Sakura's treatment hit home with her, and reminded her of her time with Orochimaru… Sai had known, just as Sasuke thought, but that didn't stop his ever present blank expression from slipping into a sad frown, which seemed to confuse the emotionless boy.

Naturally, Naruto took it the hardest and was almost shaking with rage, his tails wrapped around himself to both comfort and restrain him. After a few minutes of silence, Yugao and Sakura emerged, and after a look of confirmation from Sakura, Yugao explained her findings.

"She has bruising on almost all parts of her body that are kept hidden by her clothes, meaning her physical abuse was calculated rather than wild and emotional. There are also signs of cuts and scars left from kunai, though some of it looked...self-inflicted. The one good part was that there were no signs of sexual abuse. The whole scenario fits with the Shinobi method of torturing younger, weaker ninja into obeying, which is only done to spies, sleeper agents or among the more brutal villages." Yugao explained.

Kakashi frowned. "That makes sense; Kisuke was a part of the Torture and Interrogations Department before becoming a Jonin Councillor. He was even Ibiki's old partner, before Anko joined up."

"Ibiki told me that he was a sick son of a bitch, but to do this sort of thing to his own niece..." Anko growled.

Sakura looked at the ground before speaking up. "It wasn't always like this with him. When I was little, he was genuinely nice. After Ino become friends with Naruto and Sasuke-kun, I wanted to as well, but was too shy. Before that, if I was shy, I'd talk to my uncle and he'd help, but that time, he got upset. He made me promise to stay away from Naruto and to get as close as I could to Sasuke-kun. From then on, he'd yell at me if I was friendly to Naruto, so I thought being rude to him would make Uncle Kisuke happy, which it did. But when Sasuke-kun became friends with Naruto, I thought that now I could be friends with him too without upsetting Uncle. He got mad and started his...training. The outright beatings only happened once or twice, but his training sessions weren't much better. The worst one was before this mission.

I went home and told him about Fu, and he said that Jinchuriki were just possessed corpses and their human personalities were acts put on by the Tailed Beasts to fool real humans. When I disagreed, he beat me as hard as he dared, then told me that I needed to have Sasuke's child before the end of the year, or he would sell me to a brothel. I don't know if he was bluffing to scare me or not, but I was scared, so I started throwing myself at Sasuke-kun and being even crueller to Naruto and Fu, hoping that it would make Uncle Kisuke change his mind."

There was a moment's silence before an uncomfortable heat began to fill the room. Naruto was now in his Feral Form, like he had been the day before when he protected Fu. His normally golden chakra was now red as it flowed out around him as his tails whipped around behind him.

"I am going to kill that man!" Naruto roared, his voice becoming distorted and deep.

Everybody took a step back, trying to adjust themselves to the now sweltering heat of Naruto's chakra, while mentally trying to get their head around the fact that Naruto, the usually peaceful knuckle-head, genuinely wanted to kill someone. Sakura was the most surprised, as what looked like angry tears began to flow from the blonde's eyes.

"N-Naruto! It's okay! I'm all right now! Calm down!" Sakura said, gathering up another courage to step towards the enraged Tailed Beast.

Naruto looked at the girl and saw the discomfort his chakra was having on her. His very existence had already caused her to suffer at the hands of her Uncle… Naruto didn't want to make her suffer more, even indirectly. These thoughts turned his chakra back into its normal, golden colour and made it envelop Sakura. The girl was amazed at how something that had once been so hot and full of rage could now feel so comfortable, like she was wrapped up in bed on a rainy day. The chakra seeped into her, and Sakura felt the lingering ache of her bruises wash away, leaving her body feeling fresher and more energetic than ever before.

Once Naruto's chakra receded and he had calmed himself enough to stay in Fox Form without appearing feral, Sakura and the others were able to take a sigh of relief. Curious about the feeling from a moment before, the pink-haired girl subtly looked down her shirt and gasped. Pulling up her sleeves to reveal her upper arms, the rest of the group saw why.

Her bruises were gone!

Every single mark of pain on Sakura's body had been wiped away like it was never there. "What on earth? I'm healed!?" she exclaimed.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but because of my Tailed Beast Chakra, I heal super fast. When I saw you suffering from my angry chakra, I felt bad and wanted to help so, I just sort of followed my instincts and hugged you with my chakra. It must have healed your wounds, since they weren't too serious and the cuts had all closed up."

Sakura smiled and leapt at Naruto, hugging him. "Thank you! After everything I did to you, you still helped me. I don't care what my Uncle or anyone else says! Nobody who does that can be a monster."

Sasuke chuckled. "Told you so. But Naruto, just so you know, we aren't killing Kisuke Haruno. When we get home, we'll tell the Hokage and have him brought to justice."

"I know. I just got really mad… I mean, that bastard had the nerve to call me a monster after what he did to his own niece? I-I think he's actually the first person I really hate. It doesn't feel very good..." Naruto frowned. Sakura agreed silently and gently stroked Naruto's fur.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. With the evidence of Sakura's statement; Sasuke's and Yugao's witnessing of the bruising and the results of the inevitable mind walk by the Yamanaka Clan, the Hokage will definitely have enough to sentence Jonin Haruno. Be warned though, my cute little Genin, that his actions could be enough to warrant a charge of Treason, which could lead to his execution. Hokage-sama is usually very lenient when it comes to the death penalty, but since this crime deals with Child-abuse and effects Naruto and Sasuke in a way that could have seriously damaged the village, I think it is a strong possibility that Jonin Haruno will be put to death." Kakashi informed them.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked between themselves. Naruto was against killing unless it was absolutely necessary, and for Sakura, despite the abuse, Kisuke was still her last remaining family, she loved him and a part of her hoped the kind Uncle she'd once known was still inside him. And for Sasuke, all that really mattered was that justice was served. In the end, if this was the punishment that the Village demanded from Kisuke Haruno, then there was nothing to be done about it.

"We understand, Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke said. "I've already invited Sakura-chan to stay with the Uchiha Clan. I doubt mother or Itachi-nii-san will object."

"If Gramps decides to kill him, then I have no choice but to go along with what he wants." Naruto shrugged.

"I don't like the idea of him being executed, but I don't want to think of him as an Uncle any more. I need to move on and start earning back some of the respect I lost from following his orders." Sakura said, before turning towards Naruto. "Naruto, I-"

"Sakura." Naruto interrupted, turning back to his Human form. "If you apologise to me, I swear that I'll spend the rest of the month pranking you! You were forced into it and any bad feelings I had towards you were wiped away when I learned the truth. I'm not interested in apologies from innocent people." he said firmly.

Sakura teared up and hugged Naruto tightly. "I swear Naruto, you really are a one of a kind idiot… still, I'm glad you're you." she whispered. "And don't let these hugs go to your head! I still love Sasuke-kun!" she joked.

Naruto laughed. "Don't worry about that Sakura, Hinata had me wrapped around her finger. And besides, everyone loves hugging me, especially as a Fox."

"Got that right! As a fox, you're like a giant plushy! Sleeping with you must feel great." Anko teased.

The group laughed and Naruto blushed a bit at the innuendo. In the end, the last spectre hanging over Team 7's future success was wiped away, and now the four of them would truly be a great team. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Sai, now officially friends prepared themselves for the day to come, and the challenges it would bring...

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And now we've redeemed Sakura! Sakura Bashing ends with this chapter, though Kisuke Haruno will be getting plenty before the end of this arc!**

 **Also, a small note on Naruto's forms. He currently has three forms; Human (which is the same as his canon appearance, except his new clothes), Fox (which is a golden furred version of Kurama, complete with nine tails. It's size varies from Fox Kit to the size of a two story house) and Feral. His Feral Form is like a mix between the previous two; he is basically human with his hair becoming wilder, his whiskers, teeth and claws growing, his fox ears, eyes and tails showing and the fur on his tails standing on end.**

 **He does NOT have access to his Full Tailed Beast State yet, and his Fox Form is a sort of partial transformation (like Gaara's mini-shukaku form). He can enter a Version 1 Jinchuriki Shroud with up to two tails worth of power in any of his forms.**


	17. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 7

**AN:**

HIATUS IS NOW OVER! I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS!

HEARS TO 2017!

This chapter will show some bonding between Team 7 and Fu, especially between Naruto and Fu.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 7: COLD SHOULDERS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Sakura teared up and hugged Naruto tightly. "I swear Naruto, you really are a one of a kind idiot… still, I'm glad you're you." she whispered. "And don't let these hugs go to your head! I still love Sasuke-kun!" she joked._

 _Naruto laughed. "Don't worry about that Sakura, Hinata had me wrapped around her finger. And besides, everyone loves hugging me, especially as a Fox."_

" _Got that right! As a fox, you're like a giant plushy! Sleeping with you must feel great." Anko teased._

 _The group laughed and Naruto blushed a bit at the innuendo. In the end, the last spectre hanging over Team 7's future success was wiped away, and now the four of them would truly be a great team. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Sai, now officially friends prepared themselves for the day to come, and the challenges it would bring..._

 **XOXOXOX**

Haku had spent a good few years travelling with Zabuza Momochi, since he rescued her from the streets of that rundown village in the Land of Water. Ever since that day, Haku had never gotten to spend time with another girl her age, with Ameyuri being the only other female to spend time with Zabuza during their travels, so getting to spend time with Fu was strangely satisfying for the Ice User.

At least until Fu finally fell asleep and started mumbling in her sleep…

For someone who had been vigorously trained to sleep silently, Fu's sleep talking was infuriating. As soon as the sun had risen, Haku shook Fu awake. "Good Morning, Fu. I believe the Leaf Ninja will be arriving to see you soon, so you should get up."

Fu grumbled cutely but did as she was told, showering and dressing before devouring the breakfast Haku had made. Despite having to be self-sufficient due to living alone, Cooking was one skill Fu could never get down... "Ah, that was good. You're a pretty great cook, Haku." Fu smiled.

"Well, Zabuza can't cook to save his life. He either burns the food to ash or turns it into some weird mush. Taking the wrapper off a Ration Bar is the extent of his skills." Haku joked. "And before I met him, I would often help my mother in the kitchen."

Fu picked up on the mournful tone of those last few words. She wasn't sure if she should pry, but she did want Haku to be her friend, so being supportive might help? "You sound sad… did your mother pass away?"

Haku nodded stiffly. "My mother and I are the last of the Yuki Clan. A Clan of Ice Style users originally from the Hidden Mist Village. When the Bloodline Purges began, my mother fled, married a peasant farmer and had me. One day, I accidentally revealed my powers and my father saw. He rounded up a mob from the local villages and murdered my mother. He would have gotten me too, but my Ice Style went wild and killed the mob. I lived on the streets after that, until Zabuza found me."

The Green Haired girl looked at the ground. "It seems we've both had a pretty lousy time in the Ninja World."

"Yes, but now we are in a position to change it for the better. Listen Fu, I know that the blonde boy, Naruto of the Hidden Leaf, is also a Tailed Beast. He has been ordered by his village to retrieve you, but I have no doubts that he has been mistreated just as you have. That is simply the reality of the Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts. So, I think we should try and turn things around on the Leaf and Waterfall Villages." Haku said.

Fu's eyes widened, "You mean, convince him to come with us, instead of him convincing me?"

"Yes. From the observations of myself and my allies, Naruto is very loyal to the Leaf, but he is also loyal to the Tailed Beasts, whom he considers his siblings. How is your relationship with the Seven Tails?" Haku asked.

"Its really good. Chomei is super nice to me and lends me her power whenever I ask!" Fu said, becoming more chipper at the mention of her only other friend.

"Excellent. Perhaps Chomei, if she does not mind me using her name, can speak with Naruto? His goal is to unite the Tailed Beasts, and that is also one of our goals, though our reasons are different."

" **Agree Fu. I plan to speak with him anyway. Despite being Rogue Ninja, I have yet to sense deceit from either this girl or her father."** Chomei said within Fu's Mind.

Haku saw the foggy look on the girl's face and knew that meant she was speaking with the tenant. When Fu snapped back to reality, she nodded to Haku, making the Ice User smile. "Excellent. If all goes well, you and Naruto will leave with us and we'll be one step closer to uniting the Tailed Beasts and ending the scourge on the Hidden Mist. Now, I don't think Naruto will ever use force to take you back to his village, but if the other Leaf Ninja try to make him, use these."

Haku handed three small tags, a glass vial and a food pill to Fu. "The Tags are a Tailed Beast Suppression Tag, a Chakra Suppression Tag and a Release Tag. They will stop up Naruto's Beast and Human Chakra when you put them on him, and the release tag will undo it. The Vial contains a colourless, odourless and flavourless poison. It will knock out anyone with a single drop, and the Food Pill contains the antidote."

Fu stared at the tools with wide eyes. "Where did you get this stuff!?"

Haku grinned. "The poison was made by yours truly. It is my finest work. The Tags were drawn by the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama. He has been supporting the Rebellion in the Mist. They were intended for use on Yagura, but he has become too paranoid and won't let anyone near him, so we can't use them effectively."

Fu gingerly held the tags between two fingers before stuffing them into a hidden weapons pouch. No sooner had she done it was there a knock at the door. Fu hurriedly answered it, but kept much of her body hidden behind the door, in case it was another villager here to abuse her. Luckily, it was not some random abuser, but the four Genin of Team 7, wearing smiles.

"Morning Fu! Are you okay? I was worried about you after that Missing-Nin attacked yesterday." Naruto said, wearing a warm grin.

"Oh no, I was fine. I was...I was being chased around by a couple of Villagers. It happens every now and then, but my new friend Haku paid them to leave me alone!" Fu lied, bidding Team 7 to come in. Haku greeted them with a smile and polite bow. Team 7 returned the greeting before turning back to Fu.

"You weren't hurt though, right?" Sasuke asked.

"No, Haku appeared before they caught me. She's the daughter of some merchant who travelled here yesterday. She's pretty wealthy, and was able to pay the mob off. How about you guys? Wasn't the attack right outside the Hotel?" Fu asked, concerned.

"None of us were directly in the fight. Sasuke-kun was the only one to even see the Ninja. She was a Mist Missing-Nin named Ameyuri Ringo. She's a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, so be very careful." Sakura warned.

Fu noted Sakura's change in attitude towards her and Chomei passed on the knowledge that whatever dark feelings were inside the Pink Haired Girl seemed to have been released somewhere. "Thanks for the warning. I would have come to check on you guys, but I was still upset about the Council, plus I wanted to thank Haku. And besides, if I had turned up near the scene, half the village would have claimed I was the culprit."

Team 7 nodded solemnly, knowing what Fu said was true. Not even the Ninja of the village cared about her… to Waterfall, she wasn't even a weapon or tool, she was just a punching bag and a vent for all their negative emotions. Naruto shuddered and repressed those dark thoughts, before turning to Haku. "So you were the one to help Fu? Thanks a lot! I know it must have cost you a bit, so I'll pay you back if you want!" he offered.

Haku shook her head and smiled. "You are a polite one, but no, I don't need repayment. My father makes more than enough from his business. We travel all over the world selling exotic goods. You are Leaf Ninja, no? I have been there before, selling silks from the Land of Wind and trading for some of your Ninja tools."

Fu was surprised that Haku knew so much, but she guessed it was because the Ice user practised her cover story and learnt all she could. Team 7 seemed impressed too, and completely fooled. Only Naruto and Sasuke even felt a twinge of something being off. For Naruto, he sensed Haku was not being entirely honest, but had no ill desires, while Sasuke just had a gut feeling, likely from his intensive training under Itachi at the Police Force.

"I didn't know that the Leaf exported our Ninja Tools. Isn't that sort of thing usually illegal?" Sakura asked.

"Normally yes, but my father has a license. We only sell what you Ninja consider C-D Rank weaponry and only to places that have alliances with the Leaf. Hence why we trade with Sand and Waterfall. Though after seeing the way Waterfall treats one of its own, I may need to speak with my father about trading here..." Haku said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Please don't do that. This village can be pretty terrible to some people, but there are still innocent people here. They don't deserve to suffer because of a few idiots." Fu muttered, momentarily forgetting that Haku was only acting. Haku really was convincing!

The others, minus Sai, looked sadly at Fu. Even after all she'd suffered, she still cared about the village that tormented her, and both Haku and Team 7 knew that it was more than a few idiots behind it as well. "Hmm, as you wish. I suppose if we keep trading here, then I will be able to visit you."

"Well, actually, we're hoping you'll come and visit her at the Hidden Leaf Village instead." Naruto said, deciding to rip off that particular band-aid.

Fu immediately clammed up and hugged herself while staring at the floor. Naruto and Team 7 frowned. This was going to be tough.

"With all due respect, Miss Fu, I believe this is in your best interest." Sai stated, speaking for the first time since arriving. "The Hidden Leaf Village is offering you a home and if you want, a rank in its Ninja Forces. You will not be hurt or abused and you will make many friends. Simply by being friends with Naruto here, you will become friends with the other six Genin of our generation. Plus, the Ninja know of Jinchuriki and will treat you kindly and fairly."

Team 7 silently thanked Sai as Fu came out of her shell again, surprised at what the normally silent, monotone boy was saying. "Your village treats Jinchuriki well?" she asked.

"Yes. You already know about Naruto and his Situation. The Hidden Leaf Ninja treat him like a hero and he is well respected. He was personally selected for this diplomatic mission because he understands the burdens of the Jinchuriki and because he also knows how the Leaf treats them." Sai finished.

Haku felt a bit nervous now. She hadn't expected one of the Leaf Genin to speak to Fu directly, she'd expected it to be Naruto with a Jonin there to back him up or order him around. Not only that, but this particular Genin was a master at hiding his emotions and intent, so Haku had no idea what he was thinking or if he was telling the truth. "You certainly speak well of your friend. Is all that true?" Haku asked, concealing her own intent and projecting false emotions.

"I was raised to be without emotions of any kind. But being with this Team and their graduating class has slowly reawakened those feelings again. I consider Naruto to be a friend and a Good Person." Sai said.

"Thanks man, that means a lot." Naruto grinned.

"Even if he is an idiot." Sai continued with a small smile.

"HEY!"

Sakura and Sasuke grinned while Fu burst out laughing. Haku resisted the urge to laugh herself, and managed to dial it down to a simple smile. "Sai is right, Fu. Naruto is an idiot, but a Good Person. He dragged me from a dark place and made me his friend. You can trust him, I would put my life on it." Sasuke said.

"And if it weren't for him saving Sasuke-kun, I would never have been freed from my Uncle. And on top of everything, he forgave me for the way I treated him." Sakura added.

Naruto blushed a bit, feeling a little uncomfortable at the praise, but also warm and happy. He was glad to be appreciated, especially for the things he'd done as opposed to his lineage or status as a Tailed Beast. "Guys, I think you are completing my mission for me..." he said with a small smirk.

Fu looked to Naruto, "Would you still have come here, if it wasn't a mission? If you hadn't been ordered to?"

Naruto nodded. "I was the number one choice for this mission, but I wasn't ordered to accept it. This is our first C-Rank and our first time out of the Village. I accepted this mission because I wanted to help you and your Tailed Beast Tenant. It's my dream to bring the Tailed Beasts together and build a new home for them, where they can live free and be treated fairly, instead of like Demons. I came here for your sake, Fu, and I'll do anything to protect you. No one hurts my friends while I'm alive, I swear it!"

Fu blushed at the intensity in the blonde's expression and had to back up a step, as if the young Fox Boy was burning fire. She had never seen such warmth, such raw fire from anybody before; even the kindness of Shibuki was but a camp fire before Naruto's burning sun. Emotions roared within Fu, telling her to scream with happiness, to break down and weep or to flee and hide. But Fu ignored it all and stared at Naruto, studying his features.

"You really are a one of a kind being, aren't you…?" Fu muttered, mostly to herself before perking up and wearing the same cheerful grin as the previous day. "Okay! I'm going to think about what you said, but I'm guessing I don't need to decide today?" Team 7 shook their heads. "Great! Then I'm going to get ready, and then I'm going to show all of my new friends everything there is to see in Waterfall!"

Naruto and Team 7 smiled and went to wait outside, while Fu and Haku remained in the house to get ready. Fu dragged Haku into her bedroom and promptly put up the security seals that Shibuki's father had given her. The Green Haired Girl then turned to face Haku.

"Your group is going to collect all Nine Tailed Beasts, right?" Fu asked, no longer acting as the Sad or Cheerful Fu of the previous days, but as a serious Kunoichi.

"Yes. We are assembling the Eight Jinchuriki not sided with Yagura. So far, we only have the Six Tails Jinchuriki, whom was a Mist Ninja that joined the Rebellion. Assuming we can recruit yourself and Naruto, we will then travel to Cloud and Stone to gather theirs, and then to Sand to collect the last one." Haku explained.

"When we have freed the Mist, will we all be free to do as we like?" Fu asked.

Haku nodded. "We have no intention of keeping you prisoner. Once the Mist is free, you can do as you like, so long as you don't attack Mist."

Fu smiled. "In that case, then if I do this, I can help him..." she whispered. Haku raised an eyebrow.

"Does this mean you have an answer for me?"

"Yes. I do. My answer is..."

Naruto grumbled a bit as he kicked a pebble outside Fu's home, while Team 7 sat around him. They'd ended up waiting for twenty minutes while Fu got ready, and Naruto was not a supremely patient person. His teammates watched with amusement as Naruto paced around kicking stones, but their attention was drawn to the Fu's home as the door opened and revealed Fu and Haku. Neither looked any different, though Fu looked to have made an effort to make neaten up her hair.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked, trying not to sound impatient.

"Yep! Now are you ready? Ready for the best Tour of Waterfall ever!?" Fu asked excitedly.

Team 7 smiled and nodded. "Excellent! Then first stop; our Great Tree!"

True to her word, Fu led Haku and Team 7 on the most exciting and exaggerated tour they had ever been on. She showed them everything from major landmarks like the Great Tree and the Entrance Waterfall to minor things like her favourite places to eat and the various gardens around the village. Naruto was surprised to find that most businesses didn't turn her away like the ones in Leaf had done to him, but instead just charged her double the usual prices. Of course, a few hard glares from Team 7 had those shopkeepers reducing the prices to half their usual cost.

Everyone in the Village knew that the Leaf Ninja were there to take away Fu and hunt the Missing-Nin, so no one wanted to upset them and make them leave early.

At around Dinnertime, Fu took her new friends to a Dango Shop that she liked, but Sai stopped part way there. "I am sorry, but I was told to check in with the Jonin at this time. You go ahead and I'll meet up with you later." he had said, before simply leaving without a word.

"Does he usually do that?" Fu asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Sai is kinda weird. He's not so bad when not on a mission, but I think being casual on a mission makes him antsy. Still, he's honest so he'll meet us after he talks with the Senseis."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded along. It wasn't really a secret to Team 7 that their fourth Genin was actually an Undercover ANBU acting as a guard for Naruto and Sasuke, but they had still accepted him as a friend and slowly, Sai was coming around to their way of thinking. The only thing they didn't know about the pale boy, was who exactly commanded him; Danzo, the Hokage or the Council as a whole.

Putting that out of their minds, they reached the Dango Shop and found it was more like a restaurant than the one in the Leaf, so they were all seated inside. The single waiter was kind to them and had a small chat with Fu about her new friends as he seated them and took their orders. Once he was gone, Sasuke turned to Fu with a cocked eyebrow.

"Wondering why he was nice to me? This place only opened a few years ago and is run by a family from the Hidden Cloud. Apparently they have respect for a Jinchuriki who lives there and passed the same respect to me." Fu said with a shrug.

"Oh! Another Jinchuriki? Did you ever ask about them?" Naruto asked, becoming Hyper at the mention of another of his family's containers.

"Not really. All I know was that it was a guy named Killer Bee, who is the brother of the Fourth Raikage. I don't know which Beast he holds." Fu explained. A chattering noise echoed in Fu's mind, reminding her of Chomei's earlier request. "That reminds me! Naruto-kun, Chomei wants to speak with you."

"Who is Chomei?" Sakura asked.

"That's the name of the Seven Tails." Naruto answered. He had never heard the names directly before, but he instinctively knew the names of his fellow beasts.

"I thought you were the only one with a name…" the Haruno said, her voice almost a whisper. She suddenly realised how much harder it was to think of the Tailed Beasts as monsters once she knew they had names like people did. Sakura cursed her willingness to listen to her Uncle.

"You okay, Sakura?" Fu asked.

"Y-Yeah...just remembering when I did something stupid." Sakura answered, forcing a smile.

Naruto and Sasuke scowled but kept silent. They knew that Sakura wouldn't completely get over everything in just a few hours, or until her Uncle was out of the picture. Since Fu and Haku weren't willing to pry into Sakura's business, the conversation turned back to Chomei.

"So, how are we going to talk?" Naruto asked.

"Chomei told me that if I channel a small amount of her Chakra into your body, the two of you will be able to enter each other's Inner Realms any time you want. My seal won't allow foreign chakra into it without it snapping shut and completely cutting Chomei off from the outside world, so I won't be able to listen in on these conversations, but I trust you guys not to keep important secrets from me." Fu explained, already channelling a bit of Chomei's Chakra to her fingers.

Naruto looked at the chakra and took a moment to feel it with his own. Chomei's chakra felt smooth, like polished beetle shells and smelt of the forest. It moved like a river in the wind and the faint sound of an insects wings could be heard from it. But deep within the chakra, Naruto could feel Fu's own chakra, which was warm and left the taste of mint on his lips. And deeper still, he could feel that same pure white chakra that he felt at the core of his own, Beast Chakra. He didn't know what this White Chakra was, and the feelings it gave were too confusing for him to decipher. All he could get from it was an overwhelming sense of Nostalgia.

Fu placed the chakra coated fingers against Naruto's forehead and allowed the chakra to flow in. Naruto felt a gentle pull, like he was being lulled to sleep, and followed it, trusting his teammates to protect his body while he spoke with Chomei. He closed his eyes and opened them again to find himself in what looked like a replica of the Hidden Waterfall Village, standing at the base of the Great Tree.

But this place was different…

All the buildings were even more rundown than Fu's home, and the gardens of the village were dead. The Lake was dried up and the earth of the lake bed was cracked and baked by the sun, which hung above. The sun, despite appearing to be blazing as strong as ever, was giving no heat, at least none that Naruto could feel. The Great Tree itself was the biggest difference, as it was dead and its roots and branches were overtaken with rot. The only sign of life in this entire place was the giant hive that hung from one of the branches of the great tree.

That was the Lair of Chomei, and this destroyed Village was the cage that kept her inside Fu.

" **So, you have come."** a voice echoed across the village. It was feminine, but carried an unnatural buzz.

Naruto looked up and saw the giant hive unravel and reveal the full form of Chomei, the Seven Tailed Beetle. It's greyish blue carapace shone like the moon in the reflection of the sun as the massive beast descended to hover before Naruto. The Fox Boy instinctively changed himself into his Fox Form and allowed his body to grow to its full size, which was only as big as a single of Chomei's mighty wings.

"Yes, I'm here. Your host, Fu, said you wanted to speak to me, and I wanted to speak to you as well, Chomei." Naruto said formally.

Chomei rapidly clicked her pincers together and made a noise like laughter. " **Come now, Little Brother, there is no need for formality. I want to know who the Real Naruto the Nine Tails is.** " The insect laughed.

Naruto sighed with relief and gave a foxy grin. "That's great! I'm getting a little sick of all the formal stuff on this mission. And since I'm the Nine Tails, shouldn't I be the Big Brother?" he teased.

" **Ha! I am glad to see you have a sense of humour. Kurama was once such a jovial fox, but years of servitude and imprisonment at the hands of humanity left him bitter. And no, you are not the Big Brother. We go off age, not tails, just like Humans do. However, since our Father created us in order of tails from nine to one, that distinction never mattered, until you. Now, Poor Brother Kurama is at our Father's side in the Pure Lands, and you are here in his place. Now let me be blunt, Little Brother, what does your village plan for Fu? I have grown rather fond of her, and she did not reject me despite knowing it is because of me that she suffers.** "

Naruto growled. "It is not because of you! Its because of the idiots who mistreated you and hate you for no good reason! You've never even attacked this village!"

Chomei shook her head. " **It is true that I never rampaged and attacked this place directly, but when I, along with Shukaku, were prisoners of the Sand, they used us in one of their Wars. Ninja from this village were victims of our power and learned to hate us. But that is the past and by the end of the day, it will no longer be relevant in Fu's life. One way or another, Fu will be freed tonight, so I ask you again, what does your village plan for Fu?** "

"At first, some of our council wanted to use her as a weapon, just like the other villages do with their Jinchuriki. But I convinced them to allow me to make Fu an honorary member of my Clan, using my relation to you. Clan Laws will protect her and so will I. If she becomes a Ninja for the Leaf or decides something else for her life, myself and my allies within the Leaf will protect her!" Naruto declared.

The giant beetle observed Naruto closely. He was not lying, she could tell that much, but there was still some things left unsaid. " **And what about the people of this Village? How do you suspect they will react? How do they treat you?** "

Naruto looked down for a moment, as he knew what he was going to say would upset his Tailed Beast Sister. "It isn't perfect. The Civilians, minus a few, are ignorant and believe I am just a weakened version of Kurama. They blame me for the Nine Tails Attack twelve years ago. But the Ninja, again with a few exceptions..." Naruto thought about Kisuke Haruno with a dark scowl, "...are good people. They treat me as a comrade and in some cases, a hero. I have many friends and all the Clans of the Village are my allies. Not only that, but the Hokage consider me a Grandson and the current strongest clan in the village, the Hyuga, are taking care of me. They will allow Fu to stay with them and look after her like they did me. And Fu's identity as a Jinchuriki will be an S-Rank Secret that only Fu and the Hokage will be allowed to reveal."

Chomei listened as Naruto spoke at length about his home and his friends. He spoke passionately and honestly, not exaggerating the good aspects or downplaying the bad. And always, he spoke of how Fu, and any other Jinchuriki, would fit into this village. If Fu was to join the Leaf, she would automatically gain dozens of good, loyal friends whom would die for her. The Great Beetle looked at the boy and felt a familiar presence, like the Old Sage and his younger son were speaking through Naruto.

After Naruto was finished, Chomei clicked her pincers again. " **I see. You truly love that place, warts and all. Fu tries to feel the same about Waterfall, but she cannot truly fool herself into loving this place. If you take Fu back to the Leaf, you will have my support. This tiny part of my Chakra will remain with you and allow us to communicate. Now I must give you a warning… the girl, Haku, is not who she seems. She is not an enemy and she has offered a path to Fu that will lead her to her dreams of love and friendship, as well as your dream of we siblings being united. But I can sense something dark on that path. I believe Haku and her compatriots are being misled. The stink of Kaguya's deranged puppets linger on them.** "

At the mention of that name, Naruto shivered and his fur stood on end, as if he was being confronted with the King of Demons. Kaguya was a name that resonated deep within his chakra, and mentions of her puppets brought images of strange white plant men to his mind. "Are you saying something evil is controlling the Missing-Nin? And is Haku one of the same group as Ameyuri?"

" **Yes, I believe so. And I am sorry, but you are already in their grasp. Fu does not trust the villages any longer, and is desperate. You are her first true friend, and she has dragged you down the same path. Please, save her.** "

Before Naruto could question what Chomei meant, he was forcibly pulled from her Inner Realm and thrown back into the waking world. It was dark now, in fact it was pitch black. Naruto realised his eyes were covered by something and his hands and feet were bound by soft fabric, which had an unusually cold Chakra running through it. He felt himself being held over somebody's shoulder as they leapt from tree branch to tree branch. Naruto could not feel any kind of gag, so he tested if he could speak.

"What's going on?" he asked cautiously.

"He's awake." a gruff voice stated and with a single leap, all movement stopped. Naruto was gently dropped on the ground and his blindfold was removed to reveal he was in the middle of the forest at Night, outside the Waterfall Village. Surrounding him were five figures; One was Ameyuri, whom had a snarky grin on her face. Another was hooded and all Naruto could figure out was that he was tall and thin. A third was obvious to Naruto; he was Zabuza Momochi and judging by his close proximity, was the one who had carried him. But it was the last two figures that had truly surprised Naruto.

Fu and Haku.

Naruto scowled. There was no arguing about it; he was caught.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **What better way to start the year than with a cliffhanger! So Naruto has been caught by the enemy, but are they what they seem? Find out next time!**


	18. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 8

**AN:**

 **Hey Guys! Quick Announcement to make!**

 **Due to family issues, I'm going to have less time to write now, but I refuse to stop the story or go on another Hiatus yet, so I wanted you guys' opinion on what you would prefer I do:**

 **A). Release two chapters a week, on Monday and Friday, that are around 3000-4000+ words**

 **B.) Release one chapter a week on Monday, that is around 7000+ words**

 **As things are, I simply can't keep up with the current release schedule combined with my personal life and Original Work, so please forgive me if this is annoying to you! Let me know how you feel about it through PMs or Reviews, which ever you prefer. The switch from 3 chapters to 1 or 2 will occur after this arc is complete!**

And now we get to the action! This chapter will detail exactly how Naruto was captured during his talk with Chomei, his reaction to it and what his friends are doing about it!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 8: CAPTIVE NARUTO**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _What's going on?" he asked cautiously._

" _He's awake." a gruff voice stated and with a single leap, all movement stopped. Naruto was gently dropped on the ground and his blindfold was removed to reveal he was in the middle of the forest at Night, outside the Waterfall Village. Surrounding him were five figures; One was Ameyuri, whom had a snarky grin on her face. Another was hooded and all Naruto could figure out was that he was tall and thin. A third was obvious to Naruto; he was Zabuza Momochi and judging by his close proximity, was the one who had carried him. But it was the last two figures that had truly surprised Naruto._

 _Fu and Haku._

 _Naruto scowled. There was no arguing about it; he was caught._

 **XOXOXOX**

Naruto twisted his wrists and ankles, trying to release the restraints, but it did nothing but make his joints numb, thanks to the strange cold chakra. When that failed, he tried to call on his chakra, which still worked.

' _Good, I can escape whenever I need to. Time to gather some info!'_ he thought before putting on a mask of annoyance. "Okay, so you caught me. I guess you are Zabuza's crew of Missing-Nin?" he said, feigning anger.

Zabuza stepped forward and nodded. "Yeah, this little group is with me. We ran into some of your Leaf friends back in Wave. Gave us a hell of a fight too. Sorry about the restraints brat, but we can't release you 'till we negotiate, and we can't do that with those friends of yours pursuing us."

Naruto smirked, "So, you're going to negotiate with me and then make it look like I chose to side with you, so as not to start a war between the Leaf and your Rebellion in Mist?"

Zabuza nodded. "This wouldn't be necessary, if your damned village hadn't chosen to stay neutral on the Civil War! All the Ninja Villages would rather stay out of it and treat with whoever wins! Its because of that that we've been forced to resort to gathering Jinchuriki."

"Hey, I'm not judging you here." Naruto said, holding his bound hands up. "I actually agree. Most of my friends in the Clans back home wanted to help the Rebellion after the Bloodline Purges. But the Civilian Council and some of the Jonin Council without Bloodlines vetoed the decision. I dyed all their clothes red for it!" the boy said proudly.

Ameyuri burst out laughing. "Oh, that is great! We've got a little prankster! Guess that's to be expected from a Fox Demon, eh Zabuza?"

"I am not a Demon!" Naruto snapped. "And neither are the other Tailed Beasts! Or their Jinchuriki for that matter!"

"Whoa! Sorry Kid, didn't mean to make you snap. When your only experience with your kind is Yagura, it can be pretty damn easy to forget the difference between your lot and Demons." Ameyuri said, trying to smooth things down.

Naruto reverted back to his happy self and simply nodded. "No worries. So what exactly is with these restraints? They're really weird..." he said, twisting them again for emphasis.

"The cloth itself is nothing special; the remnants of a soft sheet that Fu gave us. The Chakra inside is my Bloodline; the Ice Style. It keeps you restrained without causing harm." Haku answered. She had changed back to her combat kimono and had her Hunter-Nin mask on her hip. Both she and Fu were silently waiting for Naruto to turn on them, and shout them down for betraying his trust. But what Naruto actually did was almost worse for them…

He didn't acknowledge their betrayal at all.

"I figured you weren't who you said you were. Weird that you gave us your real name though. I like your bloodline; can you do cool stuff with it? Uh, no pun intended." Naruto asked with a grin.

Haku exchanged a bewildered look with her father and Fu, whom both shrugged. This kid was not normal, but he wasn't bad, so Haku responded. "I can manipulate Ice freely, as it is my Chakra Affinity. It is born from my merged Water and Wind Affinities." she explained, carefully leaving out any of her actual techniques.

"That's awesome! It's like my Scorch Style! That's made of Fire and Wind. I'm not great at it yet, but I can cast a few weak jutsu!" Naruto grinned. He then turned towards Fu, whom flinched under his gentle gaze, almost wishing he would be angry as opposed to kind. She could deal with Angry, she was used to it, but kindness was a different story. "So, I'm guessing you're the one that nabbed me, eh Fu? I don't hold it against you, Chomei warned me, a little too late mind you, but she also told me your reasons."

Fu blinked. "She did? So, you're not mad because of that?"

"I am a little mad. I wish you had talked to me about it before kidnapping me, but I guess I know why you didn't. Speaking of kidnapping me, how did you do it? I can't imagine my teammates and the protection squad made it easy." Naruto asked.

Fu chuckled nervously. "Well..."

 **(Several Hours Earlier)**

Fu, Haku, Sasuke and Sakura watched as Chomei's chakra entered Naruto and put him into some sort of trance. His eyes glazed over and he didn't react to the people around him, aside from looking in their direction if they spoke. It was almost like he was hypnotised.

"I thought he would be completely knocked out while talking to the Seven Tails." Sakura commented, curiously watching Naruto continue to act in a daze. It was a bit unsettling to see the usually loud and cheerful boy acting like a brainwashed zombie, but since Sasuke wasn't concerned, Sakura decided to let it slide.

"Usually when I talk with her, its like hearing a voice in my head, and responding is as easy as thinking at her. But I guess it's different for other people." Fu commented, equally bothered by the strange sight. The food that the Genin had ordered arrived and Naruto began to rip in to it like a feral animal, all with his eyes still glazed over.

"Well at least he eats the same as always..." Sasuke dead-panned.

"Hehe, it's kind of cute." Fu giggled, using a napkin to wipe some crumbs from Naruto's cheek. None of the other Genin missed the implication of the Green haired girls words, but decided to ignore it for now. The group ate and chatted idly while Naruto continued his mental conversation with Chomei, but every now and again, Fu would give a strange look to Naruto and a friendly touch might linger a second too long. After the third time she'd cleaned crumbs from the fox boy's cheeks, Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Er, Fu, can I talk to you for a moment? In private?" he asked. He gave a subtle hand signal to Sakura to let her know his intentions.

Fu nodded. "Sure. There's a little patio area we can use to talk." she said, leading the Uchiha out the back door of the restaurant and to the small patio where the employees would occasionally come to smoke. Sasuke turned to Fu as soon as they were outside and alone.

"Look, I'm not normally the type of guy to get involved in this sort of thing, but I feel I should let you know; Naruto is in a relationship. He has a girlfriend back home in the Leaf." Sasuke said. The last thing the Uchiha wanted was for Fu to follow Naruto back to the Leaf solely out of a crush, only to find him taken by another girl.

The young Jinchuriki went wide-eyed and tried to stutter out a few dozen replies and denials, all with her face steadily growing darker and more flush. Eventually, she gave up and avoided Sasuke's eyes. "W-Why would you tell me that? What does it have to do with me?"

"I'm not an idiot, Fu. It annoys me to admit it, but dealing with fan girls back home has trained me in being able to tell when a girl likes a boy more than a friend. And I can tell you have it bad for Naruto." Sasuke stated. He was talking about complex emotions, but he made it sound as basic as throwing a kunai.

Fu searched the boy's face for some signs of an ulterior motive. Without Chomei actively talking to her, she couldn't easily tell a lie from the truth, but her gut told her Sasuke wasn't hiding anything. "I-I see. Thank you for telling me this, though I suppose you did it more to save your friend some trouble."

Sasuke gave a half-hearted nod. "Saving Naruto from trouble has practically become my full-time job. But I have other reasons. I consider both Hinata; Naruto's Girlfriend, and yourself to be my friends. I don't want to see either of you hurt or end up fighting."

"Aren't you worried that telling me this is going to make me want to stay here instead of going with you?" Fu asked.

The Uchiha scoffed. "Like I said, I'm not an idiot, and from what I've seen, neither are you. You wouldn't put your entire life on something like a crush. If you come to the Leaf, and I truly hope you do, then it should be for better reasons than that."

Fu was about to respond when there was a loud cry of "SASUKE!" from the restaurant. Leaping into combat mode, Sasuke ran back to the table with Fu on his heels, only to find the place covered in a thin sheet of frost. Naruto was still in a trance, but was now wrapped in Icy chains. Sakura was in a Kunai Clash with Haku, whose appearance had changed to her combat outfit.

"What's going on!?" Sasuke demanded as he drew his sword. He noticed that one of Sakura's arms was hanging limply at her side with several senbon made from ice sticking out of it.

"Haku is one of the Missing-Nin that Kakashi-sensei warned us about!" Sakura yelled, pushing herself away from Haku and forcing the Ice user to back away and stand between Team 7 and Naruto. "I noticed her slipping some weird poison on to that napkin that Fu kept using to clean Naruto's face. When I confronted her, she shot these senbon at me!"

Sasuke scowled and turned to Fu, "Prepare to fight! This girl is with the group trying to kidnap you and the other Jinchuriki."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Fu whispered. Before Sasuke could react, the orange-eyed girl darted behind him and held a cloth over his face. Sasuke could feel a dampness on the cloth, before his eyes grew heavy and he succumbed to unconsciousness. Fu had knocked him out with the same poison she'd been given to subdue Naruto. Sakura screamed as she saw Sasuke fall and reached out her good arm to catch him, but no sooner had she done so, Haku paralysed it with another wave of Ice Senbon, leaving both the girl's arms useless.

Sakura went pale. Without her arms, she couldn't stand up to Haku and Fu, especially if they were to use Naruto or Sasuke as hostages. She could do nothing but watch as Haku took some cloth offered to her by Fu and used it to replace Naruto's restraints before lifting him up and preparing to carry him off. Desperately, Sakura turned to Fu.

"Why are you doing this? We are your friends! We want to help you!" she cried.

Fu felt her heart wrench but she ignored it. "I'm doing this because I want to make my dream, and Naruto's dream, come true." she said, keeping her voice in a monotone so as not to betray her true feelings. She quickly went through handsigns then yelled " **Particle Style: Flash Powder**!" Silvery powder came from Fu's mouth like a puff of smoke and then began to shine with blinding light. When the light subsided, Sakura was alone in the restaurant, save for the unconscious Sasuke and the frozen employees. Fu and Haku were gone, Naruto was gone with them, and in their place was only a food pill; the cure to the poison used on Sasuke.

 **(Present)**

"And that's the story." Fu finished. She'd told Naruto everything, only leaving out the conversation between her and Sasuke.

"Man, did you need to skewer Sakura's arms? That's going too far!" Naruto yelled, glaring at Haku.

The Ice Girl flinched at the intense glare. "Be calm, Naruto. My Senbon do not pierce deep and the wounds will heal by themselves within a few hours. There will not even be a scar."

"You two were too soft." the lanky ninja said, his voice distorted by a mask. "By using shallow wounds on the arms and leaving behind the cure to the poison, you've guaranteed we'll be followed before we get out of the Land of Waterfalls and into the safety of the Land of Earth." he growled.

Zabuza nodded. "They were soft, but if they'd done more permanent damage, the Nine Tails Brat would never work with us. And last time I checked, the Land of Earth is no safer for us than it is for those Leaf Ninja. In fact, with blondie with us now, it'll only be worse; considering his resemblance to the damned Flash."

Naruto bristled at the mention of his father, but kept silent. The last thing he needed to do was let them know his lineage as well. "So, you've got me all tied up and with no way to escape. Its a pain, but I've got no choice but to listen to you guys." Naruto lied, "What exactly do you want Fu and I to do? Between the two of us and your Rebellion, we have enough power to defeat Yagura already."

"Orders from the top brass at the Rebellion. They need all eight remaining Tailed Beasts to properly combat Yagura. We want to minimise casualties, you know, make sure there is actually some of the Hidden Mist left standing after the fighting." Ameyuri explained. The woman couldn't explain exactly why, but she quite liked the blond Fox Boy. He had a playful streak that amused her.

"Uh, not to question your bosses, but adding more Tailed Beasts is a pretty lousy way to minimise casualties. In our full forms, we tend to be big and just moving could cause more damage than an entire army's worth of jutsu." Naruto pointed out. Mentally, he was piecing together what was going on behind the scenes. It was obvious that someone was using this group to gather the Tailed Beasts for their own purposes. Now he needed to know who, how and why.

Zabuza chuckled. "I said the same thing, but orders are orders. Ameyuri and I have already been tossed from the village, and if we disobey the Rebellion, we'll be tossed out by them too. The Hidden Mist is a shit hole, but anything beats being a Missing-Nin."

"You could always turn around and join the Leaf. I'd put in a good word for you, and I bet I can do some Legal magic to make it work." Naruto offered. It was a long shot, but heck, what did he have to lose at this point?

The five ninja all stared at the Fox boy for a few moments before all, minus the lanky one, burst into laughter. "HA! Good one brat. I'm starting to like you. But enough sitting around, we can talk while we move. Everyone, you've got five minutes so do your business and be prepared to move out! If we run through the night we'll reach the Land of Earth by sunrise." Zabuza said, roughly pulling Naruto up and putting him back over his shoulder, so he would be facing forward. Fu and the Missing-Nin grabbed their packs and prepared to head out, when Naruto suddenly sniffed at the air.

"Hey, big guy, is one of you a Chakra Sensor? I can smell something unfamiliar coming our way." he said. Normally, Naruto would have kept quiet and hoped whoever was following would give him an opening to escape with Fu, but there was a good chance that the pursuer was a Ninja from Waterfall and if they found Fu working with the Missing-Nin, it would mess up all Naruto's plans.

"The name is Zabuza, brat." the bandaged man grumbled, before nodding to Haku. The Ice User focused her chakra and scanned the area for any incoming Chakra signatures.

"There are eleven chakra signatures coming our way. The three Genin from Team 7, the six ninja from the Leaf and two Waterfall ANBU. The Waterfall ANBU are less than a mile south of us and the rest are two miles behind the ANBU." Haku reported.

Zabuza cursed loudly and Ameyuri growled to herself. "That one weirdo back in Wave was enough of a pain, I don't want to deal with six more Ninja from the same Village!"

"We've got to run! If those ANBU find me with you, they'll kill me for sure!" Fu panicked. She never expected her old village to care about her running away, and if they had sent ANBU ahead of the Leaf Ninja, then that meant someone on the Council had ordered them to take her out.

The Lanky man pulled out some chakra tags, like the ones placed on Naruto, and slapped them on Fu before binding her arms and legs with Ninja Wire. "There, now they'll think you're our prisoner." he said simply.

"Good idea." Zabuza said, before tossing Naruto to his tall companion. "Take both the kids and head for the meeting point in the Land of Earth. Ameyuri, Haku and I will stay behind and run interference on our pursuers."

The Lanky Ninja just nodded and hoisted both Fu and Naruto up and onto his shoulders, before using a bit of extra Ninja wire to make sure they were both attached securely. Naruto felt a familiar green chakra calling to him within his mind.

" **This man is the one. The one with the strong stench of Kaguya's puppets. He has been in contact with one of them.** " Chomei's voice echoed in Naruto's mind.

Naruto frowned. Something told him that this tall ninja wasn't going to be taking them to help in the Rebellion...

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: This chapter is a little shorter than normal, and to be honest, I'm not really happy with it, but it serves its purpose. Next chapter will begin the combat sections of the Arc!**

 **Kakashi VS Zabuza**

 **Haku VS Team 7**

 **Anko VS Ameyuri**

 **These are the big fights I have planned for the next few chapters.**


	19. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 9

**AN:**

 **Quick Note: Review Replies will be late today, since I'm uploading this right before sleeping!**

Now we'll see how everyone's been reacting to Naruto's kidnapping! We'll also get to see a battle with Anko and Kakashi VS Ameyuri!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 9: FANG AND BLADE**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Good idea." Zabuza said, before tossing Naruto to his tall companion. "Take both the kids and head for the meeting point in the Land of Earth. Ameyuri, Haku and I will stay behind and run interference on our pursuers."_

 _The Lanky Ninja just nodded and hoisted both Fu and Naruto up and onto his shoulders, before using a bit of extra Ninja wire to make sure they were both attached securely. Naruto felt a familiar green chakra calling to him within his mind._

" _ **This man is the one. The one with the strong stench of Kaguya's puppets. He has been in contact with one of them.** " Chomei's voice echoed in Naruto's mind._

 _Naruto frowned. Something told him that this tall ninja wasn't going to be taking them to help in the Rebellion..._

 **XOXOXOX**

 **(A short time after Naruto's kidnapping)**

Sakura quietly cursed to herself as she shuffled along the ground, trying to get back to her feet without the use of her arms. Thankfully, Haku's ice needles had numbed them as well as paralysed them, so the pain of the slowly healing puncture wounds was barely enough for Sakura to register, but it was still annoying as she tried to reach the food pill that Fu had left behind.

"Dammit, if they'd taken out my legs instead of my arms, this would be a lot easier!" she groaned. Finally, she reached the food pill and leaned over to sniff at it. She recognised some of the aroma as that of various herbs used in healing, specifically ones used to rouse people from deep sleep. "This must be a cure to the poison she used on Sasuke-kun… Why would she leave this here?"

Sakura frowned. What kind of mess had Fu gotten involved in? Was she being tricked? Was she lying to Team 7 from the start? The Haruno didn't know, and right now, she didn't care. Every moment of hesitation led Naruto further out of their reach. Gently picking the Food Pill up between her teeth, Sakura moved back to Sasuke and knelt beside him.

"At least his passed out with his mouth open..." she muttered.

Sakura prepared to drop the pill into Sasuke's open mouth, when a thought occurred. He was unconscious so he couldn't chew by himself… Luckily, Sakura had been trained for such an occurrence in her Medical classes, but the thought of what she needed to do still made her blush. Gathering her courage, Sakura chewed up the food pill and then sealed her lips around Sasuke's, forcing the medicine into his mouth and down his throat. She held it there for a moment to ensure the whole pill was swallowed, blushing furiously the whole time.

"Not how I thought my first kiss would be like..." she whispered as she pulled away.

"Mine either..."

Sakura yelped and jumped back as Sasuke regained consciousness. "S-Sasuke-kun! I-I didn't mean to, I mean, I wasn't trying to-!"

"Its okay Sakura-chan." Sasuke smirked, slowly getting to his feet. "I know why you did it. Not that I mind." he said the last part quietly, though Sakura caught it and the blush that came with it.

"I'm glad the antidote in that food pill worked so fast! I don't think I could carry you out of here without my arms." Sakura smiled, watching Sasuke flex his limbs and shake off the remnants of the poison.

"I'm lucky that Fu didn't use much of the poison. I don't know why she's turned against us, but I want to keep this between us. Don't tell the others." Sasuke said.

"I agree. If these Waterfall guys find out that she joined with the Missing-Nin, they'd probably try and kill her, and I really don't want to see that happen… not to mention what Naruto will do if they succeed..." Sakura shuddered. She may have accepted that Naruto wasn't a monster or a demon, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of some serious violence if he was so inclined.

Sasuke nodded. "Come on, Sakura-chan, we need to tell the others and get your arms looked at." Sakura blushed at the honorific added to her name. "Oh, and quick question."

"Y-Yes Sasuke-kun?" she spluttered.

The Uchiha blushed a bit as he put on a cocky smirk, "Was there strawberries in that food pill, or is that taste from you?"

Sakura went beet red. "S-SASUKE-KUN!"

 **(A short time later)**

After Sasuke had thawed out the frozen restaurant with some mild Fire Style jutsus, he and Sakura had ran to meet up with their comrades and found them in a meeting with the council, regarding Ameyuri's earlier attack. They reported what had happened (though they changed the story so Fu was kidnapped instead of assisting Haku), and immediately, the council was in uproar.

"We cannot allow these Missing-Nin to so casually assault our village and steal our resources! We must send out all available Ninja to hunt them down!" a Ninja Councillor declared.

"Councillors, you should leave this to us. As far as your village is concerned, Fu is already a ward of the Leaf, and Naruto is our comrade. We should be the ones to go after them." Aoba said, trying to diffuse the situation. If hundreds of Waterfall Ninja were released to follow the Missing-Nin, it would cause too much confusion, and an opportunistic Ninja may try to take out Fu, or even Naruto, in an attempt to destroy the Tailed Beasts.

"This isn't just about the damned Jinchuriki! We have been assaulted by these bastards! We must get retribution!" a Civilian shouted.

Kakashi sighed. "Be that as it may, we were sent here to do a job, and we cannot do that if we have to contend with hundreds of your Ninja running around the forest and destroying any trails left by the enemy. I employ Ninja Hounds and Anko here can use snakes to detect heat signatures, not to mention Yamato has tracking seeds on both Fu and Naruto. We will be faster and more effective without your assistance."

The Waterfall Council looked ready to argue, but Shibuki silenced them with a glare. "Jonin Kakashi, I will allow your Team to go without our forces, but I will be assigning two of my ANBU to work with you. They are loyal and professional, plus they know the Land of Waterfalls better than anyone. Is that an acceptable compromise?" he asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, thank you, Shibuki-sama. Once we have rescued Naruto and Fu, as well as dealt with the Missing-Nin, we will be heading straight back to the Land of Fire. I think it would be best for both our villages if we ended this mission as quickly as possible."

For once, Shibuki, the Leaf Ninja and the Waterfall Council were in agreement, and Kakashi quickly lead his comrades back to their Hotel room to gather their belongings before departing. It had only been a short time since the kidnapping, so they could still safely assume their kidnapped allies were still in the Land of Waterfalls. Anko was able to use her own skill with Senbon and some knowledge of pressure points (gained from experience in the T&I department) to roughly undo the paralysis on Sakura's arms, though it wasn't without some pained screaming from the poor girl. With their supplies gathered and Sasuke taking up Naruto's pack, the Leaf Ninja were prepared to begin the pursuit.

Just as they were leaving, Yugao and Hayate returned from Fu's Home, where they had gone to retrieve her belongings. "Is everything okay?" Kakashi asked, upon seeing their expressions.

"We're not sure. We believe your Genin still have some things to tell us." Yugao said, giving a gentle glare to Sasuke and Sakura. "Fu's house was already cleared of belongings, and it didn't look like it was a robbery."

Sasuke cursed. Of course Fu would take her things with her if she left! Why didn't he think of that earlier!? "Okay, I admit it. Fu is working with the Missing-Nin… I think they've tricked her into it, or at least lied about what they really want." the Uchiha admitted.

"We didn't want to lie, but we couldn't just tell you that Fu turned on us! You might have tried to lock her up, and the Waterfall Ninja would have wanted her dead!" Sakura added.

The adults looked between themselves and then looked to Sai, who shook his head to signal he hadn't known. "Alright you two, we understand." Kakashi said, "But we will be having a talk about this once we get back to the Leaf. If Fu doesn't actively try to harm us, we will be gentle, but if she uses lethal force, we will be forced to take her back as a prisoner. Understood?"

The two Genin nodded sullenly before going to wait outside, leaving Sai and the adults to finish any last minute preparations. "If those two are willing to lie to their superiors for the sake of a friend, I think your training has sunken in a little too much." Aoba said, looking to Kakashi. The silver haired Jonin grinned proudly, but said nothing.

A short time later, Kakashi was leading Team 7 and the Protection Squad through the forests of the Land of Waterfalls, with their two ANBU escorts having departed before them. That had worried Kakashi, since it meant it would be harder to keep an eye on them for signs of hostility towards Fu, but he was confident no ANBU would be stupid enough to try an assassination in the middle of a Rescue Mission.

Pakkun, one of Kakashi's Ninja Hounds, travelled alongside the leading Jonin, and barked to him. "I can smell the Fox Kid and five others. Two of them match the scents of the Jinchuriki and Ameyuri." he reported. Pakkun had been able to get a whiff of their scents from Fu's Home and the site of Ameyuri's attack. "They are about four miles ahead of us, to the north. Two other scents are two miles ahead."

"Those are probably the ANBU." Anko commented, a long black snake wrapped around her arm. "Mamba here hasn't detected their heat signatures yet, so I can't be sure. We should start planning how we're gonna take these assholes out and rescue the brats."

"We can safely disregard Naruto and Fu. Naruto won't fight us and Fu won't likely go at us seriously, if Sasuke's new report of what happened at the restaurant is any indication. That just leaves the enemy Ninja." Aoba said.

"Right. Sasuke, Sakura, Sai; you three are going to be taking on Haku, the Ice User. Guy's three Genin were able to drive her off in Wave, so you three should be able to defeat her." Kakashi eye-smiled. Despite the year of experience separating his Team and Guy's, Kakashi was confident his were better. "Meanwhile, I'll take Ameyuri. We're both Lightning Users, so I'm the better choice."

"That leaves Zabuza and the Unknown. Anko, you should assist Kakashi, just to tip the scales in our favour. Yugao and Hayate, you two deal with Zabuza, since your the best swordsmen on our team. Aoba and I should take on the Unknown; we know that he can use Water Style and with both Ameyuri and Zabuza, there's a good chance he is also one of the Seven Swordsmen, so Wood Style and Genjutsu should be able to outmatch him." Yamato stated.

"Alright, we're closing in! The two kids were taken by one of the scents I don't recognise. The other one, plus Haku and Ameyuri have engaged the two other scents." Pakkun reported.

Kakashi cursed. "Dammit! Prepare for battle!"

The Nine Leaf Ninja landed in a clearing shortly after and scowled at the sight before them. The two ANBU were both frozen solid, and surrounding them was Haku, Ameyuri and Zabuza. All three of the enemy ninja looked to be in pristine condition, not even taking the slightest amount of damage from the ANBU.

"So, we finally get to finish our fight from the Village, eh Copy Ninja?" Ameyuri grinned, showing her shark-like teeth.

"I guess we do, though I hope you don't mind if Anko here joins in." Kakashi said, gesturing towards the Snake Mistress.

"The more the merrier!" Ameyuri responded, before leaping at them with her two swords drawn.

"SCATTER!" Yamato yelled and the Leaf Ninja immediately leapt away and moved to attack their designated targets. Yamato and Aoba fled the area altogether, to pursue the unknown ninja that had taken Naruto and Fu.

The only one who didn't move was Anko, whom caught one of Ameyuri's blades by crossing a pair of Kunai, while her summoned snake wrapped itself around the foe's other arm and forced the swing to miss. Lightning began to crackle through the two swords, and Anko soon found the blade she'd blocked was cutting through her Kunai.

"Damn! Kakashi, I can't use any weapons while she's using the damned Lightning Style!" Anko yelled. Kakashi, whom had burrowed underground, popped out between Ameyuri's legs and slashed upward with a Kunai, forcing the swordswoman to leap back and separate from Anko. Before Ameyuri could go back on the offensive, she found a pair of jaws clamped around her ankle.

"OUCH! What the hell!?" she yelled as she looked down, seeing the teeth of a Ninja Hound embedded into her leg. "Freaking dogs!" the swordswoman growled, before trying to stab the beast in the head. Luckily the dog dispelled and was then re-summoned at Kakashi's side.

"Sorry about that, my cute little pups are usually so well trained." Kakashi joked.

Ameyuri smirked, but inwardly, she was cursing. The Dog Bite had hit dangerously close to her Achilles Tendon and it made putting any weight on that leg difficult and painful. This was made worse by the fact that it was her left, and dominant leg. Looking at Kakashi, Ameyuri knew he had done this on purpose. "Clever, you could tell which was my dominant leg just from our two short encounters, and even set up a trap with your dogs. You really are a clever one, Copy Ninja… You'll make a tasty meal for my Kiba blades! **Lighting Style: Depth Charge**!"

Lightning Chakra charged up in Ameyuri's body and then burst out as a powerful bolt of Lightning, which ripped through the forest towards Anko and Kakashi. Anko dropped to the ground and Kakashi charged right at the electricity, allowing it to hit him and seemingly be absorbed into him. Before Ameyuri could react to this bizarre behaviour, Kakashi ran at her and raised a fist to punch her. "Suicidal idiot!" she yelled, before stabbing both blades into Kakashi and slamming him into the floor, pinning him there.

Kakashi didn't scream or even react to being stabbed twice, and the moment he hit the ground, he erupted into Lightning and coursed through Ameyuri's body; electrocuting her. The force of the revealed Lightning Clone and the Depth Charge Jutsu it absorbed would have normally killed Ameyuri, but she was able to absorb the brunt of the attack with her Kiba blades. Still, the force of the lightning was enough to stun her, and in that moment, the Real Kakashi, with his Sharingan blazing, appeared out of the ground behind her. At the same moment, Anko leapt toward her like a snake, two Kunai prepared to stab into her like fangs.

"Dammit!" the swordswomen screamed, barely managing to throw herself sideways at the cost of letting go of one of her blades. Even with that effort, she was still stabbed in her now empty hand by one of Anko's weapons, and received a slash to her left calf from Kakashi. The combined wounds to her left leg forced Ameyuri to eat a food pill to speed her healing up, but she knew it wouldn't be enough. "You keep going for my damned legs and arms! You're not even trying to kill me at this point, are you!?"

"No, we aren't. We can get more information from you, not to mention a higher bounty, if you're still breathing! So we'll just cut you up a little and then take you prisoner." Anko smirked, licking the blood off her kunai.

"We also have reason to believe you and Fu are allied. If that is the case, then killing you would hurt our attempts to convince her to join us." Kakashi added.

Both Anko and Kakashi hoped that either the threats of torture or appealing to her friendship with Fu would force the injured swordswoman to surrender, so they could conserve their chakra for fighting the other Missing Nin, but they vastly overestimated how much Ameyuri cared about either of those things. Instead of surrendering, Ameyuri just laughed. "HA! You think I'm afraid of you!? The crap your Torture department uses is the sort of thing we use for training in the Bloody Mist! And Fu and I don't care about each other. She's using us to fulfil her dream and we're doing the same! We're all Ninja, remember? We use each other and then abandon the broken ones."

The injured woman stamped her injured leg, wincing at the pain but grinning maniacally. "One way or another, we're going to need a body bag!" Before either Leaf Ninja could do anything, Ameyuri ran through some handsigns " **Hidden Mist Jutsu**!"

Mist began to appear from the woman, until it covered the whole clearing and concealed everything from sight. Kakashi, even with his Sharingan, couldn't see his own hand right in front of his face. "Damn, she's going for the Silent Killing." he cursed.

"She's only got one blade now. The other one's been swallowed by one of my snakes. Can your Sharingan see?" Anko asked.

"No. This mist is loaded with Chakra, so I can't see through it." Kakashi frowned. "We'll need to rely on you and your snakes' heat vision."

Anko chuckled, "Easier said than done. This freaking mist is cold as hell, and its cooling our body temperature and making it harder to detect."

"Then we need another plan." Kakashi growled. "Her left leg is nearly useless and her left hand is hurt too. That combined with the fact she only has one sword, and she must be running low on chakra after using the Lightning Style: Depth Charge and Hidden Mist Jutsu will mean if we can survive this for a short time, she'll pass out either from blood loss or Chakra exhaustion."

"So we wait her out?" Anko questioned.

Before Kakashi could answer, he smelt the familiar scent of blood and steel and was able to dodge just in time to avoid a slash from Ameyuri, which would have cut him in half. "I don't think she'll give us a chance. We need to use Plan B."

Anko grinned. "Bait and Switch?"

"You know it. Think you can handle it?" Kakashi asked.

"Ha! Just be sure to get us both some medical care after this!" Anko said, twirling the sword she'd gotten from Ameyuri. Anko prepared herself and subtly summoned a couple of small snakes to help her detect Ameyuri via heat vision. The Mist may have cooled the area and made it harder, but it wasn't enough to completely blind the Snake Mistress.

"Come out and play, you Shark Toothed Bitch!" she yelled. In an instant, the smell of blood and sweat filled her nostrils and all her snakes went haywire. Anko tensed and prepared herself. Ameyuri burst out of the mist right in front of Anko and stabbed her remaining blade right into her. Anko raised her left arm and allowed Ameyuri's sword to impale itself in her forearm, forcing the Snake Woman to suppress a cry of pain before grabbing Ameyuri's wrist, effectively sealing her movement. Once of Anko's snakes bit Ameyuri to numb her, while another bit Anko and injected a poison to slow her blood circulation, so she wouldn't bleed out from her wound. Ameyuri cursed loudly, but all her screams were silenced by a bellowing cry in the mist.

" **LIGHTNING BLADE**!" Kakashi roared, and he charged forward, his hand wreathed in Lightning which crackled and arced around him. Ameyuri saw the incoming attack and became strangely calm. The sound of lightning seemed like Funeral bells to her and for a moment, Ameyuri relaxed.

"Hehe, it was a good fight while it lasted." she smiled.

The Lightning Blade, complete with Kakashi's arm, burst through Ameyuri's right shoulder, aimed in such a way as to miss all her vital organs and blood vessels, and focused to cauterise the wound so the victim wouldn't bleed to death. Ameyuri fell to the ground, silently suffering the pain of the wound, before Anko had a snake inject her with more of the Numbing Poison. "Why are you keeping me alive?"

"We told you already, didn't we? For whatever reason, Fu's decided to join up with your group, and until we get this sorted out, we aren't going to kill you." Kakashi said, slipping a food pill behind his mask.

Ameyuri scoffed, but her smile didn't slip. "Aw, you just had to ruin the ending to a good fight… You Leaf Ninja really are soft. Still… I'm curious about you guys..."

As the words left her lips, Ameyuri finally succumbed to unconsciousness, and Anko slumped to the ground beside her. "Damn, its been too long since we've been on the field. We're out of practice, eh Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded, "True, but it isn't over yet." he said, gesturing towards the still present Mist. "It looks like Zabuza is still kicking. You get some rest; I'll go and assist the others. With any luck, we'll be able to end this whole thing without taking a loss."

With that, Kakashi turned on his heels and ran towards where the mist was thickest, and where Zabuza likely was. _"Wherever you are Naruto, I Hope you and Fu are okay! I promise we'll save you both!"_ he thought.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And that's the end to the first fight of the Arc! I hope it was okay, though I'm a little out of practice due to taking a Hiatus because of my sickness.**

 **Next Chapter will be the battles with Haku and Zabuza!**


	20. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 10

**AN:**

This chapter will detail the battle with Haku, and as you can probably guess from the title, it also reveals the return of a certain Kekkei Genkai

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 10: CRIMSON EYES AND CRIMSON ICE**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Ameyuri scoffed, but her smile didn't slip. "Aw, you just had to ruin the ending to a good fight… You Leaf Ninja really are soft. Still… I'm curious about you guys..."_

 _As the words left her lips, Ameyuri finally succumbed to unconsciousness, and Anko slumped to the ground beside her. "Damn, its been too long since we've been on the field. We're out of practice, eh Kakashi?"_

 _Kakashi nodded, "True, but it isn't over yet." he said, gesturing towards the still present Mist. "It looks like Zabuza is still kicking. You get some rest; I'll go and assist the others. With any luck, we'll be able to end this whole thing without taking a loss."_

 _With that, Kakashi turned on his heels and ran towards where the mist was thickest, and where Zabuza likely was. "Wherever you are Naruto, I Hope you and Fu are okay! I promise we'll save you both!" he thought._

 **XOXOXOX**

Unlike Zabuza and Ameyuri, whom had happily stood still and engaged their opponents, Haku was much less willing to fight Sasuke, Sakura and Sai, partly out of affection for them, gained from their short time together previously and partly out of Self-preservation. After all, she wasn't stupid; Sasuke was an Uchiha, Sai was clearly hiding his real abilities and Sakura, despite being the closest to normal Genin Level, was a skilled Medic and was able to hit surprisingly hard.

So Haku fled, heading west to avoid leading her pursuers to their kidnapped comrade. Every time she leapt from one tree branch to another, the Ice user would be forced to dodge a barrage of Shurikens, Fireballs or even the occasional bird made from ink, until eventually, she was forced to leap into the crater of a dormant volcano in an effort to hide. Unlike the one in which the Waterfall Village was built, this volcano was only partially filled with water, and the rest was empty, meaning Haku had few options to hide.

" _The Water..."_ Haku thought, as she quickly used the Hiding in Water Technique she'd learned from the Demon Brothers. No sooner had she finished the disguise did the three Genin of Team 7 appear, landing in hardened rock of the crater.

"Dammit, did you see where she went?" Sasuke asked, turning to Sai.

The pale boy shook his head, while Sakura frowned. "She can't have left the crater. We'd have seen her leap out as we came in."

"There is nowhere to hide. She is either hiding as a Rock with the Transformation Jutsu, or she's hiding in the water." Sai commented.

Sasuke smirked; he had an idea! The Uchiha quickly relayed his plans with some subtle hand signals, before announcing, "Well if she's in the water, I can just take her out instantly with a Lightning Style Jutsu. I'll try out Kakashi-sensei's Lightning Blade."

Haku felt her heart skip. The Lightning Blade was infamous as an Assassination Technique, which was specific to the Copy Ninja. If Sasuke struck the water with it, the Lightning with likely fry her, even if it wasn't a direct hit. Just as Sasuke wanted, Haku was forced to abandon her hiding spot and leap out of the water, shooting Ice Senbon at Sasuke, whom was preparing a jutsu.

What Haku didn't know, was the Sasuke didn't know how to use Lightning Blade, and the jutsu he was preparing was actually a Fireball, which promptly erased the Ice Senbon and forced Haku to escape with a strange mirror made of Ice. "What the hell is that?" Sasuke asked, shocked that the mirror was unscathed by the flames.

"That is my trump card, and most powerful jutsu. The **Ice Style: Crystal Ice Mirrors**. It's quite impressive that you were able to bluff effectively enough to trick me." Haku said, appearing from another mirror behind Sai, and holding a real senbon at his throat. "Now, drop any weapons you have hidden and place your hands in the air, or I will be forced to kill your comrade."

Sasuke grinned. "Go ahead and kill him. Getting caught makes him a liability to us."

Haku scowled, "So all that talk of caring about comrades was a lie after all? I should have known you were a callous monster, just like the rest of the Uchiha!" she roared, before freezing Sai's hands and legs together and throwing him at Sakura. Sakura didn't try to catch him, but instead kicked the captive boy over to Sasuke, shocking Haku even more.

"Maybe the other Uchiha really were callous, but I am not a liar; just very good at bluffing." Sasuke said, before using a kunai to cut "Sai" across the throat, making him explode into Ink which reformed itself into a small horde of Ink Birds, which slammed into the unsuspecting Haku. Haku cried out in shock as a good six or seven birds managed to smack into her; leaving welts on her forearms before she was able to slip back into her mirror.

" _A Trapped Ink Clone! These Genin really aren't anything to mess with! I may have to use my Trump Card to its fullest!"_ Haku thought, before emerging from another Ice Mirror she'd hidden underwater. She couldn't be sure if Sasuke or Sakura were the real ones or more Ink Clones, and even if they were real, Haku still had no idea where Sai was, which made him the most dangerous. Deciding on her plan, Haku burst into action, using her raw Ice Chakra to freeze the water's surface and completely coat the crater in a layer of ice. Her Ice was full of her chakra, and when she first layed it, she could detect anything it touched, which allowed her to confirm that Sai was not hiding somewhere in the crater. Sasuke and Sakura had avoided the wave of Ice, as they had seen it before at the Restaurant.

"Sasuke-kun, can you melt the Ice with Fire Style?" Sakura asked, unaware of Haku watching her through the ice.

"No, this Ice is a bit different from before. There's more chakra in it. It won't melt until we take out Haku." Sasuke answered.

Sakura frowned and stabbed a Kunai into the ground with all her might. The Ice barely chipped, and repaired itself almost immediately. "It's like it's alive… It must have her Chakra in it. What do we do?" she asked. Sakura wasn't stupid by any means, but Sasuke was the superior tactician.

"Haku probably needs to stay in contact with the Ice to keep her chakra in it. Not even Naruto can channel chakra into things on this scale without being in contact with it. She probably can't maintain the Ice if she tries to escape, so she'll either have to fight us. Otherwise, her chakra will run out and it will make capturing her easy." Sasuke commented. Haku watched from beneath the ice as he performed a few handsigns, though she couldn't tell if they were signals for Sakura and the still hidden Sai, or handsigns for a jutsu. The Ice user got her answer when a large ink bird flew down from the sky and allowed Sakura to hop onto it, before hovering a few meters over the ground. Sasuke also left the ground, but he did so by stabbing his blade into the ice and then hopping up and balancing on the handle.

"Haku!" Sasuke shouted. "I know you can hear me. Come out and fight us. You can't escape without us knowing, and your chakra won't last forever. Plus, if we aren't in contact with the ice, you can't manipulate it to catch us. If you come out, we'll give you the opportunity to beat us in a fair fight."

Haku cursed. It hadn't occurred to her to use the ice at their feet to trap them. The Last Yuki shook her head; ever since meeting these Leaf Genin, she'd grown even softer! Or at least it felt that way to her. She needed to follow Zabuza's old advice; Kill the Innocence inside her and become a true Shinobi. Haku could feel it in her bones; if she did not succeed in killing Sasuke, she would never be able to completely kill her innocent heart.

"Very well." she said, melding through the ice next to Sasuke. "I will fight you, and you alone. A one on one fight; if you win, I will surrender. If you lose, your team lets me escape without pursuit."

"We can't do that. You still have our friend and we aren't giving up the chase until we save him." Sakura declared, making Sasuke smile. He was glad that Sakura was starting to really consider Naruto as a friend.

"Sakura-chan, I'm going to agree to the fight." Sasuke said simply, shocking Sakura and also surprising Sai, whom was flying above the clouds on an Ink Bird.

"But why!?" Sakura yelled, "If you lose, we might never rescue Naruto! Sasuke-kun, think about this!"

"I've made my decision. Haku, you and I will fight alone. The loser surrenders to the Winner's demands." Sasuke said, silencing Sakura, whom had no choice but to accept her love's request.

Haku nodded and just like that, the chase became a Death Match with both Sasuke's life and Naruto's freedom on the line. Both Haku and Sasuke knew that regardless of the outcome of this fight, the others might still succeed or fail in stopping Zabuza's crew and saving Naruto, but that wasn't at the front of their minds. Both had an ulterior motive;

Sasuke wanted to surpass a powerful opponent that had bested him, and if possible, save the life of someone Fu considered a friend.

Haku wanted to finally prove she could be a true, cold-blooded Kunoichi, just like her adoptive father and Master wanted her to be.

Sakura allowed the Ink bird to fly her out of the crater, to watch from afar as the boy she loved fought for his life. This would be the first time the Uchiha Genin had ever engaged in a real fight. Sasuke could feel his heart beat quicken and a bead of sweat roll down his neck. He could feel the twitch of anticipation in his hands as he drew a kunai from his pouch.

This was a true battle!

In an instant, both Sasuke and Haku closed the distance, wielding their Kunai and Senbon respectively and clashing in mid air. Haku inwardly smiled, as the moment Sasuke touched the ground, she could make the ice move up and envelop him. Sasuke anticipated this and with a flick of his empty hand, his sword was flung from it's position and returned to his hand, allowing him to stab it into the ground again and use it as a foot hold; his chakra flowing through it to stop it being frozen.

' _He's using Ninja Wire to keep his sword at his side. This guy is clever.'_ Haku thought, before dodging backwards as Sasuke threw a pair of strange bombs in the air. The bombs exploded and caused hundreds of sealed Kunai to rain down on the crater. Haku created a Crystal Ice Mirror above her, which captured the kunai that would have struck her, and then with her other hand, she made another mirror that launched the caught Kunai back at Sasuke. The Uchiha frowned and used his own kunai to deflect all the projectiles he couldn't dodge, but found himself in pain.

For some reason, the strain of trying to focus on all the different Kunai was making his eyes hurt; like the nerves behind his eyes were cramping up like muscles. _'Dammit, is this a side effect of that poison, or the medicine?'_ he thought as he cringed, trying to keep Haku from identifying what was wrong.

"Your eyes… so you really are an Uchiha..." Haku mumbled. Sasuke paused for a moment, suddenly realising what the pain in his eyes really meant. He smirked as he looked at the Kunai in his hand. In the reflection, he could see his eyes turning between their normal colour and Blood Red every time he felt a pulse of pain.

"Ha, looks like my Sharingan are slowly starting to evolve. This fight is almost over Haku, once the tomoe appears in my eyes, you'll be done." Sasuke grinned.

"Hmph, don't be so certain. A Bloodline, even one as great as the Sharingan, is not without its weaknesses. I'm sorry, Uchiha, but I won't allow you to awaken it!" Haku declared, before performing several handsigns. Before Sasuke could evade, the Ice on the ground shifted and produced dozens of rectangular mirrors, which formed themselves into a Dome around Sasuke.

" **Ice Style: Crystal Ice Mirrors**. This is my trump card Jutsu in its true form. Once these mirrors are formed and ensnare you, you will never escape." Haku said, leisurely walking into one of the mirrors, causing an image of her to appear on all of them. Sakura and Sai watched from a distance, silently worried as they could no longer see their teammate. Sasuke on the other hand, was much less intimidated.

"I assume there's more to this trick than just mirrors? This won't be a very good final move otherwise." Sasuke said, running at a gap between the mirrors. Haku had hoped he'd touch the icy ground while escaping, but Sasuke instead hopped on the Kunai that were stabbed into the ground from his earlier attack. The Icy Hunter-Nin scowled; right from the beginning of the battle, Sasuke had been discovering weaknesses in her techniques and exploiting them.

But the Crystal Ice Mirrors had no weakness. Sasuke's defeat was only a matter of time…

Once Sasuke reached the gap between the mirrors, Haku sprang out and peppered the boy with senbon needles, forcing him to leap back. Sasuke scowled and pulled a few needles out of his forearms, which had blocked most of the attack, silently thankful that Haku hadn't aimed to disable his body like she had done to Sakura. Of course, Haku had rightly assumed that after seeing her do that before, Sasuke would have been prepared for it. "So, these mirrors are a kind of Space-time jutsu? If you can warp from one mirror to another at will, then this must be one hell of a Jutsu! But I wonder, how long can your chakra keep this up? You're already using a lot of it to maintain the Ice on the ground, and I'm barely using mine at all." Sasuke grinned.

Haku grimaced, as she felt the drain of the two jutsus begin to wear on her. Sasuke was right; she wouldn't be able to maintain this for long, and if it came down to a battle of attrition, Sasuke would win with ease. "I had hoped you would surrender upon seeing it was hopeless, but you've given me no choice but to kill you! Do not resent me, this is the destiny of all Ninja." Haku declared solemnly. Before Sasuke could truly fathom what Haku had said, all the images of Haku from each Mirror began to throw wave after wave of Senbon at the Uchiha. He tried to dodge, but every section of the dome was being shot at, leaving no safe places. He tried to block, but there was no way he could deflect that many Senbon, which assaulted him like a Blizzard of Iron. Sasuke even tried to counter with Fire Style, but these Senbon were metal, not Ice, so it expended more Chakra to destroy them and there was no way he could release the flames around him at all angles. No, he could do nothing but stand in the centre of the dome and hopelessly try to minimise the damage; stifling his screams as the stinging pain of the needle barrage began to build up.

With nothing but the feel of cold iron and dripping blood on his skin, Sasuke was forced into his own mind. He needed to think; block out the pain and find a way out. His spars with Team 7 had taught him that there was always a solution, always a countermeasure. No one and no jutsu was without a weakness, and Sasuke just needed to find Haku's. Determination welled up inside Sasuke, and he opened his eyes, watching every flick of Haku's wrist in every mirror he could see, occasionally turning to see the others that were in his blind spot. Slowly, the pain in his eyes began to intensify, and Sasuke's perception of the world began to slow down. Suddenly, he could see the nuances of Haku's movements and began to notice a pattern, and a strange blur between the mirrors. After a few seconds, Sasuke saw the answer; Haku's Mirrors weren't Warp Points like he'd originally theorised, but they were instead a medium for super-fast movement. Haku was actively having to leave each mirror and move to another one, but she was doing it so fast, it looked like she was in all of them at once. With the trick behind the jutsu confirmed, Sasuke gathered up his chakra, and using the needles in his body and the ones still flying through the air as a medium, he unleashed raw Lightning Chakra.

The Lightning Chakra bounced from needle to needle and between the Shuriken on the ground, turning the inside of the dome into an inescapable spider web of electricity. Sasuke was able to resist due to it being his own chakra, combined with being his elemental affinity, but Haku took the full brunt of the attack as she had been caught as she moved from one mirror to another. The electricity shot through her and made her scream out in pain, before falling out of the air, her mirrors and the icy ground shattering around her and turning the crater into a flurry of snow. Sakura and Sai gasped at the sight, fearing that some sort of explosion had killed their comrade, but when the snow settled, Sasuke was stood there, bleeding profusely from the needle wounds, with a severely injured Haku held bridal style in his arms.

Haku, her body unable to move due to the Lightning and her own Chakra Exhaustion, could do nothing but lay in Sasuke's arms and look up at the boy, whose eyes were now blood red and emblazoned with a pair of Tomoe in each one. "I see...you awakened the Sharingan at just the right moment… I guess it will be me dying today instead..." Haku coughed.

"Not if I can help it. Sakura-chan, the fight is over! We need some healing!" Sasuke yelled, kicking away the Kunai and Senbon that covered the ground so that he could safely place Haku down. Sakura didn't argue as she ran to the two injured ninja, with Sai hot on her heels. She knelt beside Haku and began working on her first, since Sasuke's wounds were less serious.

"W-Why are you helping me? I am your enemy! I tried to kill you!" Haku yelled, cringing at the pain her shout sent through her body.

"Did you? Because it didn't look like that from where I was standing. You managed to somehow miss every single vital organ or blood vessel in my body, despite being good enough with Senbon to paralyse Sakura's arms back at the Dango Shop. If you had really wanted to kill me, I'd have been dead as soon as you made that dome." Sasuke said, sitting down beside Sakura and Haku. Sai shook his head at the mercy of his comrade, but that was something he was beginning to get used to on this team. The Pale boy began to apply emergency medical care to Sasuke's more dangerous wounds, while Sakura did all she could for Haku. The Haruno's skills weren't master-level, but she was good enough to make sure Haku was out of any imminent danger.

"Speaking of my arms, we're going to have a little talk about that when this is all over!" Sakura said, sounding like a scolding mother. "But for now, I want to know why Fu decided to side with you. Did you bribe her? Threaten her?"

Haku sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but since you've defeated me and spared my life, I technically belong to you now. That was the way of the Yuki Clan. Fu sided with us because we promised to take her to a place where the Jinchuriki can be loved and treated as heroes, not monsters. She distrusts the Villages, and thought the Leaf was forcing Naruto to act for them. I encouraged that belief… I am sorry..." she said, a small tear coming to her eye before she finally succumbed to exhaustion and passed out.

Team 7 looked between themselves with concerned expressions. Their hunch was right; Fu had been mislead, though Haku had seemed genuine about their promise to take Fu to a good place.

"I'm starting to think that Fu wasn't the only one being lied to." Sasuke commented.

Sakura nodded. "We need to go and save Naruto and Fu, before the true mastermind behind this mess gets their hands on them!"

Sasuke nodded and looked to Sai, whom was already picking up Haku and putting her over his shoulder. Sakura scowled and she got a good look at some of the wounds on the Uchiha's exposed arms. "Hey Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah, Sakura-chan?" Sasuke answered, turning to his pink-haired teammate. "What did you ne-MMPTH!"

The raven haired boy's words were cut off as Sakura captured him in a kiss. She held him there for a few seconds, kissing him passionately, an act which Sasuke did nothing to resist or stop. When Sakura finally released the now-panting boy, he could do nothing but stare at her dumbfounded.

"Don't ever keep me out of a fight like that again!" Sakura scolded, her bright red blush betraying her angry tone.

Sasuke just nodded dumbly, and Haku, whom was jostled awake when Sai picked her up, watched the scene with a small blush. "Some girls have all the luck..." she whispered to herself. Sai raised an eyebrow, but before he could comment, Haku was already back in unconsciousness.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN: And that is the Sasuke VS Haku Battle!**

 **I was originally going to have Sakura and Sai involved too, but with all of Team 7 being stronger than in Canon, it would have been a really uneven fight. Don't worry though, they'll get a bit of action before the end of the Arc, and a lot more next Arc!**

 **Next Chapter will be the Kakashi VS Zabuza fight, as well as a sneak peek at the final villain for the Arc! Also, we get to check in with Fu and Naruto!**

 **One last note: The voting for the first spot in both Naruto and Sasuke's Harems will end after the final battle of the Arc (probably between Chapter 12 and 14). All votes for characters that don't win will carry over to the Poll for the second spot.**

 **The First Place spots for both are currently: Fu (Naruto) and Haku (Sasuke). The popularity of Fu is partly why she plays such a big part in this arc!**


	21. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 11

**AN:**

Now we get to the battle with Zabuza, which will be a tad shorter than the one with Haku. We'll also check back in with Naruto, and learn the identity of the third and final member of Zabuza's crew!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 11: EXECUTIONER'S BLADE**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Sasuke nodded and looked to Sai, whom was already picking up Haku and putting her over his shoulder. Sakura scowled and she got a good look at some of the wounds on the Uchiha's exposed arms. "Hey Sasuke-kun?"_

" _Yeah, Sakura-chan?" Sasuke answered, turning to his pink-haired teammate. "What did you ne-MMPTH!"_

 _The raven haired boy's words were cut off as Sakura captured him in a kiss. She held him there for a few seconds, kissing him passionately, an act which Sasuke did nothing to resist or stop. When Sakura finally released the now-panting boy, he could do nothing but stare at her dumbfounded._

" _Don't ever keep me out of a fight like that again!" Sakura scolded, her bright red blush betraying her angry tone._

 _Sasuke just nodded dumbly, and Haku, whom was jostled awake when Sai picked her up, watched the scene with a small blush. "Some girls have all the luck..." she whispered to herself. Sai raised an eyebrow, but before he could comment, Haku was already back in unconsciousness._

 **XOXOXOX**

Kakashi ran as fast as he could through the mist-coated forest, heading towards the part where the mist was at its thickest. Navigating the place was becoming harder by the moment, as the chakra-filled mist blocked his vision and even his sense of smell was becoming clouded by the odour of damp wood. After a few moments, the sound of metal clashing against metal reached the Copy Ninja's ears and he ran towards the source of the sound. When he arrived, he felt his blood run cold.

Yugao was lying against a tree, her hands clasped over a deep wound on her abdomen; her katana snapped in two at her side, while not far from her was Hayate, whom was barely holding off Zabuza with his own blade, which was only staying in one piece thanks to the Tokubetsu Jonin's Chakra. Kakashi saw Hayate was slowly giving way to Zabuza, so he threw a lightning-charged Kunai at Zabuza, forcing the bandaged man to grumble and back away; retreating back into the mist.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, noticing some cuts and bruises where Hayate's Flak Jacket had taken a few hits.

"I've been better. I was made a Tokubetsu Jonin because of my skill with a sword, but facing off with one of the Legendary Seven Mist Swordsmen is a whole other level." Hayate replied, his breathing laboured. "I haven't scored a single hit on him, and that was before this damned mist rolled in! I'm guessing this was Ameyuri's work?"

Kakashi nodded. "Anko and I took her captive, but the mist isn't subsiding. I figure Zabuza must be maintaining it."

At that comment, an echoed laugh rolled through the forest, seemingly coming from everywhere. "Ha! You think I'm maintaining this? I didn't need the mist to deal with those two. Its a shame; they're good swordsmen, but they'll never beat me if they aren't willing to kill me!" Zabuza laughed, hiding carefully in the mist. He was telling the truth about the Mist, he really wasn't maintaining it, _"Those two that went after the kids must be giving my associate a hard time, if he's willing to keep the mist up… though with Kakashi here now, I might need it as well..."_ he thought.

Kakashi signalled for Hayate to move and protect the injured Yugao while he did the brunt of the fighting, but the Copy Ninja had a feeling this wasn't really going to be a fight; this would be a game of cat and mouse, and the first one to be caught would be taken out; either by capture, or death. The silver haired Jonin sighed; after the fight with Ameyuri, he was pushing his limits with the Sharingan and his chakra was suffering because of it… too many jutsus, even simple ones, and he'd be dead without Zabuza having to lay a finger on him.

"Welp, guess it's time for Plan K..." Kakashi grumbled. Yugao and Hayate heard and both grimaced. Plan K was a very rarely used and very unpopular one among the Ninja of the Hidden Leaf, due to it being both painful and dangerous, but it was also a shot to the pride of any Leaf Shinobi that loathed to use another's power.

"Ooh, Plan K? Did Ameyuri exhaust Plans A through J? You Leaf Ninja do too much thinking on the battlefield, it leaves you wide open!" Zabuza's voice came echoing through the mist and before anyone could blink, he was plunging down on Kakashi from above, aiming to cleave off the man's arm. After all, if he killed the Copy Ninja, all chances of negotiating with the Nine Tails would go up in smoke.

To Zabuza's surprise, Kakashi easily sidestepped the blow without even looking, before slapping the sword out of Zabuza's hand and then punching the bandaged man several feet into the woods; causing him to crash through multiple trees. The shock wave of this act alone was enough to clear away the mist directly around Kakashi, his comrades and his opponent (though the Mist was still present). Kakashi panted hard and resisted the urge to get on all fours like an Inuzuka as Zabuza pulled himself from the wreckage of the trees that had cushioned his short flight. Zabuza glared with wide, furious eyes; his body pierced by many chunks of wood, though luckily none were lethal or serious; only painful.

"What in the hell was that! And what the hell is wrong with you!?" Zabuza roared, glaring at Kakashi. "I know you have the Sharingan, but that doesn't explain those freaky eyes!"

Just as Zabuza said, Kakashi's eyes had indeed changed. His normal eye was now as red as the Sharingan one, and both his pupils were turned into slits. "This is Plan K, also known as Plan Kyubi." Kakashi stated, holding up a tiny, empty pouch that was covered in seals, along with the kanji for "Kyubi".

"Wait, so you're harnessing the Nine Tails' power!? How!?" Zabuza yelled.

"Through special pills, made by a concoction of medicines and Naruto's blood and Chakra. When eaten, the user enters a Pseudo-Jinchuriki form which enhances our senses and strength, plus a nice boost to Chakra. On the downside, it does have some nasty after-effects; once it wears off, which won't be long, I'll have the worst hang-over you can imagine, not to mention I won't even be able to move for a week… Plan K is a last resort for Leaf Ninja, and everyone of Chunin level or higher carries one of these pills." Kakashi explained, leaving out that the pills also caused the user to develop fox-like tendencies for a while after consumption.

Zabuza frowned. So that was how Kakashi was able to smack him around so easily… "Wait a minute, if all of you Leaf Ninja carry these things, why didn't those two use them?" he asked, pointing to Yugao and Hayate while trying to subtly edge his way over to his sword.

Yugao and Hayate both shuddered. "We've used them before when missions went bad… we'd rather not do it again. The power is amazing, but it isn't worth the drawbacks! Plus if it wears off before you've finished the mission and when no allies are around, you're screwed." Hayate explained.

The swordsman gulped. No normal Ninja would be so cavalier about giving away the secrets of their techniques and tools; meaning Kakashi and his comrades were either really stupid, or completely confident Zabuza wouldn't be getting away. " _The sword isn't going to be enough here...time to relocate."_ he thought, before quickly grabbing his blade and running for it; heading towards a lake he had scouted out previously. If his blade wasn't going to be enough, then he'd combine it with his Water Style!

Of course, Kakashi wasn't going to just let him escape and in a blur of movement that not even the trained eyes of an ANBU could keep up with, the Copy Ninja slammed into Zabuza's back with a hard kick, again sending him flying through the trees. Luckily for Zabuza, the kick was enough to send him all the way to the lake he had planned on running to (he even skipped like a stone across its surface a few times) and he was able to pull himself to his feet right near the centre of the lake. With Kakashi only moments away, Zabuza flew through Handsigns and the water began to form together into a large, serpentine dragon.

" **WATER STYLE: SUPER WATER DRAGON JUTSU!** " he roared. Kakashi reached the lake in time to hear the roar, momentarily wondering what the "Super" was for, at least until the jutsu fully formed.

"Oh...Oh crap." he muttered, as the entire lake drained and formed a massive Water Dragon that could easily encircle the Hidden Waterfall and even a good portion of the Hidden Leaf. Submerged in the head of the dragon was Zabuza, whom was emitting his famed "Demon Aura" and spinning his blade, ready to slice Kakashi to pieces, Naruto's feelings be damned. Kakashi whistled; quietly impressed by the jutsu, for not only was it a bigger, more powerful Water Dragon, but if he got caught in its jaws, Zabuza's sword would make the whole thing like being thrust into a blender.

Needless to say, this was one dragon Kakashi would rather avoid.

The Water Dragon gave off a roar before diving down on top of Kakashi, whom was able to leap away with ease thanks to the Fox Chakra currently flowing through him, but he knew the supply was running out and when it did, he'd be dead. A single Lightning Jutsu, empowered by the Fox Chakra would more than likely take Zabuza out in an instant if it landed close enough to the dragon's head, but if he missed or if Zabuza wasn't knocked out, Kakashi wouldn't have enough chakra left to try again and he'd be dead. _"So, keep dodging until my chakra depletes and I die, or gamble it all on one last attack… Heh, kind of an obvious choice!"_ Kakashi thought to himself as he charged up his chakra and directed it to his legs and his right hand.

Lightning began to crackle around Kakashi's wrist as he prepared a Lightning Blade, but when he focused the Tailed Beast Chakra he had left into it, the colour of the lightning became a shining gold which reminded Kakashi of Naruto's (and his father's) hair. With all the chakra in his legs, Kakashi leapt high above the water dragon and shot himself towards Zabuza. The bandaged ninja grinned and swung his blade to meet Kakashi, using the remains of his own chakra to manipulate the water inside the Water Dragon to further propel his swing.

" **WATER DRAGON'S DEMONIC FANG!** "

" **NINE TAILS LIGHTNING BLADE!** "

Kakashi's powered up Lightning Blade slammed into the edge of Zabuza's powered up sword swing, sending sparks and water everywhere and turning the sight of their clash into the eye of a massive Thunderstorm, which rained down Lightning and Torrential Rain on the forest, starting fires and then smothering them before they could rage out of control. And all the while, Kakashi and Zabuza were still pushing against each other, trying to out last the other. Both were Elite Jonin with similar reserves of chakra and both were almost exhausted from using such big techniques. After a few moments, Kakashi's power won out and Zabuza's Executioner's Blade shattered into innumerable pieces, leaving the Mist Ninja holding just a hilt with barely an inch of blade left on it. Kakashi smirked behind his mask, but then recoiled when Zabuza threw the remains of his blade at him, causing it to cut into his side. With his own momentum broken by the shattering of Zabuza's blade and the small wound he sustained, Kakashi was unable to plunge the Lightning Blade into Zabuza, so instead, he reformed the lightning into a pulse which shot out and hit Zabuza at point blank range.

Zabuza roared in pain as the force of the lightning was empowered by the water of the Water Dragon, which imploded as Zabuza lost control of his muscles. Both Ninja, with their chakra drained, plummeted into the ground below, landing in the shallow remains of the lake.

For several minutes, Kakashi lied in the mud of the lake bed, trying to process the flood of awful feelings that came with the Plan K Pill. His head felt ready to burst and his stomach lurched as all his muscles felt like they had been liquefied. "Huff-huff, at least...at least I won..." he muttered, as he saw Zabuza's still form lying a few feet away.

"D-Don't be so sure! Kakashi of the Sharingan!" Zabuza grumbled, panting hard as he repeatedly tried and failed to sit up. "My body maybe fucked, but at least I can take you out! We're dying together!"

Kakashi's blood ran cold as Zabuza finally sat up and rolled himself over, crawling on hands and knees to reach the paralysed Leaf Jonin; a kunai in one hand. Zabuza's bandages had been torn by the clash and burnt by the Lightning, leaving his shark-like teeth on full display, shaped into a painful grimace as the Mist Ninja approached, hell-bent on killing Kakashi. "For the sake of my village, we need those Jinchuriki, and if I need to kill you to get them, then DIE!"

Zabuza swung his arm up, ready to stab Kakashi, whom tried with all his might to escape, even though he couldn't lift a finger thanks to the pill. "Sorry, but neither of you are dying today!" came a familiar voice. Zabuza scowled as his kunai was knocked away by a Chokuto blade and he felt two pairs of feet slam into his back while two pairs of arms grabbed his arms. Kakashi smiled to himself as he saw Zabuza thrown to the ground; Sai and Sakura holding his back down with their feet, Yugao and Hayate holding his arms while holding their blades (or remains of them, in Yugao's case) at his throat, and Sasuke holding his head against the ground with his own blade at the ready.

"Good job everyone. You got here just in time." Kakashi smiled, acting as if they had arrived in time for training, as opposed to saving his life. "I take it you defeated Haku?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Sai is using an Ink Clone to guard her and Ameyuri back at our meeting point. Anko went ahead to help Yamato-sensei and Aoba."

"Damn it! You beat Haku too!? If you've hurt her, I swear I'll gut you like a fish!" Zabuza roared, unleashing as much killing intent as he could.

"She's fine." Sasuke said simply. "We healed her wounds but she won't be fighting for a while."

Zabuza just scowled and looked to Kakashi, "So, your brats are as good as that green weirdo's? Well you beat me fair and square, though it pisses me off to admit it. But I've got to warn you; the guy with those Jinchuriki brats will go for the kill without hesitation. He'd enslave all the Jinchuriki to the Mist if he could. He only cares about following our orders no matter what it takes. He's one sick son of a bitch."

Kakashi exchanged worried looks with the others. "Who is he? One of your Mist Swordsmen?"

"Yeah...his name is-"

 **[With Naruto and Fu]**

Naruto had never been a hateful person; years of listening to Kakashi and the Hokage warning him of the dangers of hatred had made him wary of the dreadful emotion, but ever since the beginning of this mission, the young shinobi was having trouble keeping the feeling of hatred at bay… Hatred for the Hidden Waterfall which had abused Fu and Hatred for Kisuke Haruno whom had abused Sakura. But now, he was discovering a new, lesser hatred.

Hatred for being treated like a piece of luggage!

The cloaked member of Zabuza's gang had been running for only a short time, but he was much less gentle than Zabuza when it came to the Jinchuriki he was carrying. Naruto looked over to Fu and saw she was wincing a bit at the rough ride, but their carrier didn't seem to care.

"Hey, big guy! Can you be a little more gentle? We aren't travel bags you know!" Naruto yelled, growing irritated. His Fox-like senses had already detected Yamato and Aoba slowly catching up with them, and he could hear the distant sounds of battle.

"Kid, I'm not slowing down just so you can meet up with your friends. You and the Jinchuriki are supposed to be Ninja, so stop whining." the Tall Man replied snidely, seemingly running even more wildly to further annoy Naruto.

"Jeez, you're a real jerk! You do know that you need us, right?" Fu grumbled.

At that, the hooded man gave a sinister laugh. "Zabuza and his little brat, along with Ameyuri are all disgraces! They go around pampering you little shits to try and make you work with us. Well to hell with that! I have my own way of doing things, and if I have to torture the pair of you into obeying me, then so be it. I'll be sure to enjoy it."

Naruto scowled. "So, Chomei was right. You're different than the others… you're a traitor aren't you?"

The man laughed again, "I can't betray someone I was never sided with." he said, before coming to a sudden stop and landing in a small clearing. The area was different from the rest of the forest, to the point where Naruto felt "Jungle" would be a better word for it. The area was damp and the smell of rot was thick in the air. Naruto and Fu looked at each other desperately and their eyes grew wide when they saw the skull of a giant, long dead reptile jutting out of the ground not far from them.

This wasn't the Land of Earth…

"Where are we?" Naruto asked.

"This is the Ryuchi Execution Grounds… The Snake Summons used to kill and dump their prisoners here! It's forbidden for anyone to come here!" Fu exclaimed. She had always been warned to never set foot here, as it was a grave insult to the Snakes, and they weren't a Summon Tribe to be trifled with! The Tall Man roughly dropped Fu and Naruto to the ground, where they landed with a loud thump.

"Why did you bring us here!? Who are you really working for? Kaguya?" Naruto demanded.

The man cocked his head to the side at the name, but he didn't seem to recognise it, at least as far as Naruto could tell. "My real bosses are coming here to pick up you two. You see, I have a funny little story to tell you two." he said snidely as he knelt down in front of Naruto and Fu, whom were struggling to sit up with their bindings.

"You see, Zabuza and his little friends think we're working for the Rebellion. He's never been able to contact them directly, but I was able to trick him, with some help from my Genjutsu using comrade, into working for us. I pretend to be his contact with the Rebellion and lead the idiot on missions to aid our cause! And since my employers are sided with Yagura, Zabuza has been secretly sabotaging the very Rebellion he supports! Isn't that hilarious!?" the man cackled. "And the best part? All three of them are wanted ninja with huge bounties from both the Rebellion AND the Hidden Mist! No matter what happens, they'll be hunted for the rest of their lives!"

Fu went pale and Naruto growled. He had been bracing himself for the worst, but it still angered him to hear this bastard's betrayal. At least it confirmed Naruto's suspicions that despite their actions, Zabuza, Haku and Ameyuri weren't bad people, just misled by this man. The Lanky Ninja looked at Naruto's expression and smiled beneath his hood.

"Aw, does that make you angry, little fox? Too bad. It really is a shame though; with those powerful ninja you brought with you from the Leaf, my tools will likely be broken now. Not that it matters really; I was going to have to kill them after this mission anyway, so thanks kid, you're friends saved me the trouble."

"You bastard! What the hell do you gain from all this!?" Naruto yelled, resisting the urge to flare his chakra. He needed to make this guy think he was still a prisoner until Yamato and Aoba caught up.

"Cold hard cash, on top of the pure enjoyment of it. I get paid well, and I can kill as much as I want without having to follow a bunch of damned rules! So long as I bring you both back to the boss alive and in one piece, I can do whatever I want! And that includes taking a few limbs off you, or having some fun with your little friend there." the man turned towards Fu, whom shuddered and edged herself away. He laughed at her reaction and gave her an additional leer to make her flinch, before getting up and pacing around the area, checking on things neither of the Genin could see. Naruto's glare intensified and he felt his control over his beast instincts slipping.

Naruto had never been a hateful person… but he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he absolutely despised this man. The Fox boy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so tightly that his nails cut into his palms; how could people ever call him a Demon when people like this man existed? It was absurd! This man was evil to the core!

Fu felt Chomei's chakra flaring inside her as she looked at Naruto, but that feeling was quashed by an overwhelming amount guilt. "I'm sorry, Naruto… I thought by doing this, we could achieve both our dreams. That I could find a place where I can live happily, and you can unite the Tailed Beasts… I was stupid and rash, and now we're both trapped..." she half-whispered, unable to meet Naruto's eye. "It's all my fault..."

Naruto snapped his head towards Fu and gave her a determined smile. "Fu, I swear, before the sun rises, you will be free, and I'll take you to a place you can live happily. Both our dreams are going to be coming true, and this bastard can't do anything to stop us!"

The Hooded man, whom had been half-listening ever since he got up to check the area, smirked to himself and was about to respond when the tree he was standing next to suddenly came to life and attacked him. Branches and roots surged from the tree and tried to ensnare him, but he leapt back just in time, before drawing a strange weapon from inside his cloak and using it to knock away two kunai that shot out of the darkness surrounding the clearing. The weapon was a sword, but incredibly thin and with no edge, and at the pommel was a small hole with Ninja Wire attached. It was like a giant Sewing Needle!

Naruto grinned and moved himself between Fu and their captor, ready to surprise them both by joining the fight; now that one of his senseis was here! Yamato and Aoba appeared from the trees, with Yamato literally emerging from the tree that had been attacking the Tall Man. "Naruto, are you and Fu alright?" Yamato asked upon seeing them.

"We're fine. Listen, this bastard has been tricking Zabuza and his crew into committing crimes by claiming they were orders from the Rebellion in the Mist! He's the real enemy!" Naruto yelled.

Yamato nodded and turned to Aoba. "Do you recognise this one, Aoba?"

Aoba nodded. "I can't see his face, but that isn't unusual for this guy. Luckily, the sword gives it away. That's the Nuibari, one of the Seven Swords of the Mist, and this guy is its wielder; Kushimaru Kuriarare!"

The hooded man chuckled darkly and idly removed his cloak to reveal himself. He wore a white ANBU Mask with the Mist Symbol on the forehead, which had been scratched out, and a sleeveless black shirt, matching pants, and the same strange grey wrist and leg guards as Zabuza. Aside from his gangly stature, the only other identifying feature of Kushimaru was his bushy, straw-coloured hair. "Well done, you got it right. As a fellow Swordsmen of the Mist, those idiots Zabuza and Ameyuri never suspected me! You'd think they'd be more cautious after both the previous Samehada Wielders turned out to be traitors." he mocked, his voice a little less muffled now.

Yamato and Aoba readied themselves for battle, and Naruto did too, but before anyone could move, Naruto froze up. A sinking dread filled him as his eyes landed on the symbol on the back of Kushimaru's shirt.

It was a Blood Red Cloud.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Dun Dun DUUUUUN!**

 **So, the identity of the Final Boss of the Arc is revealed, and his true allegiances are alluded to, but what other secrets does Kushimaru have?**

 **Next chapter will probably be the longest one of the Arc and will be the final battle of the Arc as well. After that, we'll have some cool down as the fates of Zabuza's crew are decided, the CRA is enacted and Kisuke Haruno gets his reckoning!**


	22. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 12

**AN:**

Okay! This is the final battle of the Arc! It's pretty long and a lot will be happening in it!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 12: UNSTITCHING**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Aoba nodded. "I can't see his face, but that isn't unusual for this guy. Luckily, the sword gives it away. That's the Nuibari, one of the Seven Swords of the Mist, and this guy is its wielder; Kushimaru Kuriarare!"_

 _The hooded man chuckled darkly and idly removed his cloak to reveal himself. He wore a white ANBU Mask with the Mist Symbol on the forehead, which had been scratched out, and a sleeveless black shirt, matching pants, and the same strange grey wrist and leg guards as Zabuza. Aside from his gangly stature, the only other identifying feature of Kushimaru was his bushy, straw-coloured hair. "Well done, you got it right. As a fellow Swordsmen of the Mist, those idiots Zabuza and Ameyuri never suspected me! You'd think they'd be more cautious after both the previous Samehada Wielders turned out to be traitors." he mocked, his voice a little less muffled now._

 _Yamato and Aoba readied themselves for battle, and Naruto did too, but before anyone could move, Naruto froze up. A sinking dread filled him as his eyes landed on the symbol on the back of Kushimaru's shirt._

 _It was a Blood Red Cloud._

 **XOXOXOX**

Since coming to the Land of Waterfalls, Naruto had experienced many new emotions; things he'd never imagined he could feel. He had felt great hatred, great relief and even the desire to kill, but none were so debilitating as what he felt now.

Fear. Unrelenting terror.

The sight of that Blood Red Cloud, which Naruto had never seen before, filled him with such terrible fear that he could barely move, and was instead left shaking on the ground. Fu gasped at Naruto's reaction and crawled, as well as she could with her restraints, over to him, concern colouring her face. "Naruto! What's wrong? Are you okay!?" she asked, shaking the fox boy to try and snap him out of his daze.

"That Symbol...have you ever seen it before?" he asked, his voice coming out in a scared whisper as he gestured to Kushimaru's back. The three adult ninja were still facing each other in a stand-off, but all were listening to the bizarre exchange between Naruto and Fu.

Fu looked at the cloud and felt a sense of foreboding, but she could not figure out why. "It's familiar, but I can't remember where I saw it. Why? What is it about it that's freaking you out?" she asked. The Blond shook his head and clenched his fists, trying to calm himself down; now wasn't the time for him to be afraid; he needed to be ready to jump into the fight, to protect his fellow Leaf Ninja and Fu! Kushimaru was willing to kill them… _"But I can shield them!"_ Naruto thought as he finally snapped himself out of his funk.

"Sorry Fu, my instincts went a little crazy there. I don't know why that symbol scares me, but once Yamato-Sensei and Aoba take this bastard down, we'll have all the time in the world to figure it out." Naruto said, determination replacing the fear in his words.

Kushimaru smirked at Naruto's words, but internally, he was scowling. His Leader had ordered him specifically to wear the damn blood cloud on his back and purposely show it to the Fox Brat to put the kid out of commission in case he had some tricks up his sleeve, but the symbol had only caused a temporary shock in the kid. _"This kid is getting to be annoying. Those seals better hold up!"_ he thought, not aware the seals hadn't worked from the start.

Yamato, sensing that Kushimaru was distracted, made the first move and created a Wood Cage around the enemy, which snapped the lanky ninja back to reality. The cage did not hold Kushimaru though, as he contorted his tall, thin body to allow himself to crawl out of one of the cage's small square holes, which would normally have been a challenge for a child to squeeze through. "My turn!" the masked ninja said, lunging himself at Yamato, " **Water Style: Water Sheath!** " he yelled, his needle-like blade suddenly becoming coated in a vortex of spinning water.

" **Wood Style: Wood Dome!** " Yamato countered, creating a shield of wood around himself to block the attack, but the water on Kushimaru's blade added a drilling effect to it, causing it to slowly penetrate the wood. Aoba, seeing an opening, laced two kunai with chakra and threw them at Kushimaru, whom barely dodged away in time by leaving his blade wedged in Yamato's shield. Aoba and Yamato thought they had dealt a critical blow by separating the swordsman from his weapon, but the masked ninja simply pulled on the near-invisible thread on the weapon and sent it flying back into his hand.

"We should have seen that coming. Still, you aren't the only one who can use that trick." Aoba said, flicking his wrists and causing the kunai he'd thrown to return to his hands.

Kushimaru grinned beneath his mask; "How interesting! I was given a lot of info about Team 7 by my boss, but you aren't a part of Team 7 are you? What's your name?"

"And why should I answer that?" Aoba responded.

The lanky ninja shrugged and got back into a lunging stance "Oh well then, you'll tombstone will have to be blank. Or better yet; it can read "Here lies a dead fool, sewn up by his own weapons."

Aoba raised a questioning eyebrow, before hearing Naruto cry "Aoba, look out!" Unfortunately, Naruto's warning came a little too late and Aoba was suddenly pierced in both arms by the kunai he had thrown earlier, which had been caught by Kushimaru's thread. The Kunai went right through the bicep on each of his arms and spun around him, binding the Leaf Ninja's arms and torso with an intricate web of Ninja Wire. Aoba grimaced and stifled a cry of pain, but every time he tried to move his upper body, fresh bursts of pain would shoot through him.

"Damn it!" the Leaf Ninja groaned, leaping backward and out of Kushimaru's striking range. Yamato quickly reacted by putting up a wood barrier between his wounded teammate and their target, before using the Wood Clone jutsu to replace himself and Aoba so they could retreat a bit. Once they were in the trees surrounding the Execution Ground, Yamato carefully cut the threads binding Aoba.

"Do you think you can still move them?" the Wood User asked.

Aoba frowned, "I can, but not quickly enough to land my **Hidden Jutsu: Stone Needles**. Without it, Plan A is out the window. I can still use my crows though."

Yamato nodded. "Alright, here's the new plan. Use your crows to obscure his vision while I send Wood Clones to retrieve Naruto and Fu. They are the priority. Once they're clear from the area, I can use large scale attacks to subdue the target."

"A nice plan, but it won't work." Kushimaru shouted from the clearing; the remains of the Wood Clones at his feet. Yamato's eyes widened, unable to see how Kushimaru had both found them and heard their plan, at least until he'd taken a closer look at the gangly swordsman. He was currently holding his free hand against his ear, and the glint of Ninja Wire could be seen in his fingers.

"Impossible, is he using the threads to spy on us?" Aoba asked, holding his kunai at the ready (even though it was futile with his wounds). "How can he do that?"

Yamato frowned and narrowed his eyes. "He's laced this entire place with his threads and now he's using them like those cup and string toys that children make. He's amplified it with his chakra, and now he can hear anything anyone says near his threads."

Kushimaru grinned and looked towards Naruto. "Your sensei is smarter than he looks. He's already worked out my **Ninja Art: Echo Tread**. It's such a shame that I have to end this; I love smart prey, but the boss will be angry if I don't kill the enemy." he said, his voice taking on a perverse gleeful tone. He then stabbed his blade into the ground and performed several handsigns, before placing his hand on the blades pommel and sending his jutsu through the blade and into the network of threads he'd set up. Yamato and Aoba, their hiding place no longer secret, resorted to communicating through hand signals as they moved to a new location, hoping to avoid whatever jutsu Kushimaru was preparing.

Unfortunately, they would not succeed.

" **NINJA ART: RAZOR WIRE STITCHING!** " the Missing-Nin shouted, causing all the threads he'd placed around the area to glow with blue chakra and pull themselves taut. As soon as they were in position, the wire began zipping through the Execution Grounds, cutting through trees and rocks as they went. The Leaf Jonin hurriedly evaded, as being caught by a single one of the threads would lead to them losing a limb, and then their lives. Fu and Naruto were in the safe zone of the technique, along with Kushimaru, but they were still forced to watch as their would be saviours were chased by those lethal attacks.

"We need to do something! They'll be killed!" Fu whispered fearfully, hoping their captor wouldn't here.

"It's okay, I have a plan. Have you been watching Kushimaru? Isn't it weird that he isn't getting weaker when using such a big jutsu?" Naruto responded, carefully watching the tall Ninja. Fu blinked and turned to look at Kushimaru, whom was indeed acting a bit oddly. He would periodically waver and stagger, like he was losing his balance, due to the exhaustion of his chakra, but then he would suddenly snap back to normal like he had full reserves again.

"How is he still standing?" Fu asked, "Is he replenishing himself some how?"

Naruto nodded. "Sasuke always tells me to observe the target carefully; and I think I know why. If we can figure out how he's replenishing himself, we can stop him from doing it, and then he'll be all ours!"

"But how do we do that? We're tied up and the seals on us stop us from using our Human or Tailed Beast Chakra. Even if we got loose, these seals can't be pulled off; you need the Release Tag." Fu stated.

The Blond smiled, "Oh, don't you worry about that! I felt the icy chakra leave these bindings a while ago, so I'm guessing my friends beat Haku." he said, before subtly tearing the soft cloth from his wrists and ankles. "And it just so happens, I'm a Fuinjutsu Master-in-Training. I'll have your seals off in a second."

Fu gasped as a single gold tail appeared from Naruto's behind and carefully moved itself to Fu's shoulders, where the seals had been placed on her, and began to channel chakra into them in order to unlock the seals. "How are you using your chakra?" she asked.

"My normal chakra is a mix of Human and Tailed Beast. The Seals blocked me from harnessing Human or Tailed Beast Chakra in order to mould more of my Mixed Chakra, but it doesn't stop me using the Mixed Chakra already in my body. I actually used it to undo my own seals back when we were talking with Zabuza." Naruto explained, his smile growing wider as he saw the seals on Fu melt away. "There! You can use chakra again, but I want you to continue playing the prisoner. If those wires on you are connected to that tall bastard, then he'll know when we cut them. When I'm ready, I'll cut the wires and we'll jump in with a combo attack!"

Fu looked shocked at Naruto's words, but quickly regained her composure; she couldn't act like a child now; she had to be a ninja! "Okay, what do you want me to do?"

"Can you use your Particle Style to make explosive or flammable powder?" Naruto asked. Fu nodded. "Great! When I give the signal, get as much of that powder on the threads as possible, then get away. I'll incinerate the threads with my Scorch Style."

"So, you're going for the kill?" Fu asked. Naruto frowned for a moment before looking at Kushimaru.

"If I can end this without killing, I will, but… I can't risk your life or the others' lives or the sake of that man. If I have no other choice, I will kill Kushimaru." Naruto said, though Fu could tell his resolve wavered at the thought of taking a life. But Naruto knew what he had to do, so Fu would do what she had to as well, for the sake of supporting him.

"Okay Naruto-kun, I'll follow you...and when this is done, I'll follow you to the Leaf as well." Fu said, blushing a little bit.

Naruto beamed at her and used his tail to give her a subtle hug. "Thank you! I promise you won't regret it! Now, let's take this bastard down!"

As Naruto spoke those words, Yamato and Aoba were still dodging the network of razor sharp threads, doing all they could to survive the onslaught, but their stamina was draining fast and they hadn't had a chance to restore it with Food Pills. Not only that, but Aoba's wounds were still bleeding badly and he was losing a lot of blood, putting him in danger of passing out. "If this keeps up, I'll need to use the Kyubi Pill just to stay alive!" Aoba said as he ducked below a wire that zipped past his neck.

"If you use that and it wears off before we stop this jutsu, we're as good as dead." Yamato yelled, jumping over another thread. Yamato was one of the very few Leaf Ninja that did not carry a Kyubi Pill, since exposing his imperfect Wood Style to too much Tailed Beast Chakra caused him to go haywire. The first time he'd used it, his Wood Style had gone out of control and turned him into a tree, and it had taken a few days for him to go back to normal. Yamato was about to signal for a retreat, so they could get back up from the other Jonin, when he suddenly felt a signal from the Tracking Seed he'd placed on Naruto. It was picking up his chakra again and when Yamato briefly made eye contact with Naruto, the blond gave him a hand signal. The Wood User grinned and signalled to Aoba: "Naruto is free from his restraints and preparing a counter attack, hold out a bit longer and keep the target's attention away from the Jinchuriki!"

Aoba signalled back his understanding and the two Jonin began to slowly back out of the area while still dodging the razor wires. Kushimaru smirked behind his mask as he saw his targets beginning to retreat, unaware of the real danger right behind him. Naruto watched him carefully, and the moment the tall ninja's chakra waned, he struck.

Naruto's Adamantine Chains burst from his palms and smacked Kushimaru hard across the back, cutting him with the spikes and knocking him away from the Nuibari, while another chain zipped back and forth around Fu and cut all the threads binding her. "Now Fu!"

" **Particle Style: Gunpowder Cloud!** " Fu yelled, releasing a massive cloud of shimmering black powder, which quickly enveloped the entire area. As soon as the gunpowder had scattered, the Green-haired girl darted out of the clearing, leaving only Naruto and Kushimaru.

"You Brat! You'll need more than this to blind me! I'm used to fighting in the mist, remember!?" Kushimaru roared, getting back to his feet. Naruto just sneered at him and leapt as high as he could, transforming into Fox Form as he went.

"I'm not trying to blind you; I'm trying to take you down! **Scorch Style: Solar Sphere!** " Naruto shouted, creating a small, hand-sized sphere of golden flame in his jaws, before shooting it down into the gunpowder, right at Kushimaru. Instantly, the powder ignited into a huge gout of flame and a mighty explosion echoed across the entire Land of Waterfalls. Trees close to the explosion were incinerated while those further away were blown away from the force. Even boulders were melted into lava from the force and heat of the flames. Fu and the Leaf Jonin were sent flying and had to stab Kunai into the ground in order to stop themselves being blown away, and Naruto was forced even higher by the upward force of the roaring flames. When the explosion ended, the fire quickly died down; having consumed everything it could use for fuel, and Naruto plummeted to the ground, only to be caught at the last moment by Fu, whom was using Chomei's wings to fly.

"I think I used a little too much Gunpowder..." she commented as she settled back to the ground and let Naruto get back to his feet.

"Maybe a little… It kind of sucks, but it looks like Kushimaru died in the explosion… only ash remains." Naruto said, feeling a twinge of guilt at having been forced to kill the enemy ninja. The entire Ryuchi Execution Grounds were now blackened and barren, with even the ancient bones being turned to ash. Yamato and Aoba returned to the area moments later, both panting with exhaustion.

"Naruto, Fu; good work. We came to save you, but you ended up saving us. It looks like the target was taken down too." Yamato said, checking the two genin for wounds and finding nothing.

"It looks like the Nuibari survived too." Aoba said, pointing to where Kushimaru had stabbed the blade into the ground. The weapon's thread was gone and the wrappings on the handle had been burned away too, but the blade itself was still intact, though it was currently glowing red from the heat of the explosion.

"I-It is not the only one! Leaf Bastards!"

All four ninja spun around to see something they never believed was possible; Kushimaru alive and in one piece...mostly. The tall ninja was stumbling out toward them from where he'd been blasted, badly burnt, and with his shirt and mask gone, revealing his face, which had narrow yellow eyes, a thin nose and the same shark-like teeth as his fellow Mist Swordsmen. The burns on his body extended across most of his torso, both arms and legs and even a portion of his face, causing him to cringe and quietly whimper with every movement he made.

"How did you survive that!? Even rocks were melted away!" Fu yelled, putting herself in a combat stance along with the Leaf Ninja.

"You little bitch! You're damned gunpowder and that fox bastard's fire almost killed me, but I was able to wrap myself in thread and then use **Water Style: Water Coffin** on myself to reduce the damage!" Kushimaru roared, fury in his eyes as he slowly approached the group.

Naruto scowled and readied himself to finish the fight, when he noticed a strange seal on Kushimaru's chest, and another was visible through a hole in his pant leg. "Those Seals are strange… are they how you kept regenerating your chakra?"

Kushimaru spat on the ground and touched the seal on his leg; causing the Nuibari to disappear from where Aoba had been inspecting it and reappear in the Tall Man's hand. Kushimaru cringed as the hot metal further burned his hand, but he was beyond the point of caring now. "The leg seal is a simple Summoning Seal. This one on my chest is very different; It's my trump card, a little present from a fellow employee of my boss. I've been using it's incomplete form the entire fight, to restore my chakra. Now I'll show you its full powers!"

Before any of the Leaf Ninja or Fu could react, the seal on Kushimaru's chest; shaped like three rain drops arranged in a circle, began to glow and extend across his body, restoring his chakra and much to the shock of Naruto, healing his wounds. When the glowing stopped, the Black Rain Drops were extending all over his body, even his face. "HA! Now I'm back to full power! As a reward for doing so much damage to me, I'll let you in on a little secret; I can only use this form's healing power once before needing a refill from the Seal's maker, but it doesn't matter, as now I'll complete the transformation!"

An insidious black and purple chakra began to leak from Kushimaru as his seal once again began to expand, but this time his whole body was covered and he began to warp and mutate. "What's going on? What kind of seal was that!?" Aoba asked urgently. He and Yamato tried throwing Kunai, Explosive Tags and even a few jutsu at the transforming man, but the black chakra would always repel the projectiles before they could hit.

"The symbol was nothing I'd seen before, but the feel of this chakra… I think it's a Cursed Seal of some kind, similar to the Caged Bird Seal, but much worse. But there's something else inside it..." Naruto answered, feeling his Tailed Beast Chakra reacting. "It feels like, Chomei's chakra, and mine as well. I think that seal is like my Kyubi Pill!"

Aoba cursed and quickly went to eat his own Kyubi Pill before Kushimaru could complete his transformation, but Naruto stopped him. "Aoba, taking the pill would be no good here! Whatever power is in that Cursed Seal is way stronger than the Kyubi Pill!"

"Then what do we do?" the goggle wearing Jonin asked.

"You should go and find the others. If Zabuza, Ameyuri and Haku can still fight, then get them too! This guy is their enemy as much as he is ours. Yamato, Fu and I should be able to beat him, but if we can't, we'll need their help." Naruto said, keeping his eyes on Kushimaru as he transformed from his Fox Form to his Feral Form, with a golden chakra cloak surrounding him.

Aoba nodded at Naruto before heading off to find their allies, and Fu mimicked Naruto by entering her Initial Jinchuriki Form, which caused the whites of her eyes to turn orange to match her pupils and coated her in a Red version of Naruto's cloak. She even increased the number of wings on her back from two to six, with the seventh tail of Chomei waving around below them. "I'll do what I can to help Naruto." she said.

"As will I. Normally, I'd take charge, but the Hokage did make you Ambassador and the leader of the mission..." Yamato smiled, showing his faith for Naruto in his own way.

"Thanks Fu, Yamato-Sensei! Our last plan did a lot of damage, so it might be worth repeating. Yamato-Sensei, if you can catch him in any kind of Wood Trap, then Fu can spray Gunpowder and I can blow him up again." Naruto said, before releasing some chains from his back, which he wrapped around his wrists and ankles to give him some protection.

Finally, after one last burst of evil chakra, Kushimaru's transformation was complete, and as the smoke and chakra cleared; his new, monstrous form was revealed. He had grown taller and thinner, like he had been stretched thin, and his body was covered in dark grey Chitin, like that of a lobster. Included with that was a large pincer, which had replaced his right arm, and his left arm had been replaced by a long, segmented tail, with the Nuibari grasped at the end. Lastly, his bushy hair had grown longer and now ran down his back and almost touched the ground, and his eyes were completely covered by it, leaving only his wide, shark-like grin visible.

"Ah! It feels so good to use this form again! This is the full power of the Cursed Seal of Isobu!" the monster laughed, his voice now deep and echoing.

Naruto scowled and mentally contacted Chomei _"Sis, isn't that name…?"_

" ** _Yes, that is the name of the Three Tailed Turtle. He is sealed within the Fourth Mizukage; Yagura."_** Chomei replied.

Naruto's scowl deepened, "Guys, be careful. I was right about the Cursed Seal using Tailed Beast Chakra; Kushimaru is using a twisted version of the Three Tails' power."

Fu and Yamato both nodded and before Kushimaru could make a move, Yamato struck; " **Wood Style: Wood Spear Jutsu**!" he yelled, creating a long spear of wood from his palm and shooting it at Kushimaru. The warped man didn't even bother to dodge as the wood shattered against his Chitinous Armour.

"Tch, how boring. My new armour can protect me from steel, do you really think Wood will do anything?" Kushimaru mocked. "My turn! **Water Style: Pistol Shrimp**!" Water gathered inside Kushimaru's large claw and then shot out in the form of a small ball. Yamato tried to block with a Wood Wall, but the water broke through it easily and would have killed the Wood User if Fu hadn't managed to fly toward him and pull him down with her tail. With nothing else to block it; the water projectile rocketed into the remains of the woods and eventually lost enough momentum to splatter against a rock that had survived the earlier explosion.

Fu quickly shot up into the air and ran through some handsigns before unleashing a barrage of powerful Wind Blades from her wings. Kushimaru blocked the blades with his large claw, obscuring his vision in the process and allowing Fu to dart in close; " **Seven Tail Art: Beetle Horn!** " Fu yelled, producing a black, horned helmet from her chakra and slamming it into Kushimaru's side. Since both their armour was made of similar material, both were damaged, with Fu's helmet shattering and a large crack appearing in the side of Kushimaru's abdomen.

"Good job Fu! I didn't know you could do that!" Naruto praised, leaping over to Fu, shooting small Chakra Bullets from his tails as he went, to keep Kushimaru from retaliating.

"Chomei can lend me more than just her tails. She can also lend me her armour, if I need it. Good thing too, as I don't think normal physical attacks will work on this guy." Fu smiled, blushing a bit at Naruto's compliment. Kushimaru roared in anger and tried to stab the Jinchuriki with his Nuibari, which he had a monstrous reach with thanks to his tail-like armour, but Yamato was able to pull the two Genin back towards him with a pair of roots.

"It looks like Fu's Armoured Attacks can weaken his armour. We'll need her to make an opening for my attacks. Naruto, can you pierce his armour?" Yamato asked.

Naruto looked to Kushimaru, whom was smoking a bit from the few chakra bullets to strike him, but aside from the smoke, there was no sign of him being hit at all. "Maybe if I use more chakra? Let me try!" he said, grinning as he ran on all fours towards the mutated ninja. Kushimaru swung his claw at the boy, but Naruto jumped high in the air and pointed the ends of each of his tails towards the enemy. " **Tailed Beast Art: Nine Tails Gatling!** " he shouted, creating mini-Tailed Beast Bombs on the end of each tail and then shooting parts of them down on Kushimaru like a rain of deadly chakra. Kushimaru roared in pain as several blasts hit his lightly armoured sections, but when the smoke cleared, his thicker armour was barely scratched.

"Whoa! I've never seen anything stay intact after that attack!" Naruto exclaimed as Fu caught him in the air.

"The Armour is like the Three Tails' Shell, right? So its going to take a lot to break it." Fu said, landing beside Yamato and dropping Naruto. While Naruto had been attacking, Yamato had used his Wood Style to draw the roots from the destroyed trees out of the ground, and weaved them together into a series of rough barricades and walls.

"Fu's right. I doubt the explosion from earlier would hurt him either. We need to shatter his armour completely." Yamato stated. The Wood User was actually becoming a bit worried; as he had no jutsu that could pierce Kushimaru's hide, and no defences which could defend against more attacks like the Pistol Shrimp Jutsu… He couldn't even use his Wood Style to suppress Kushimaru's Cursed Tailed Beast power, as he hadn't used it in an attack, only in defence. All he could do was act as a strategist for the young Genin. "Kakashi might be able to do it with his Lightning Blade, if Fu weakens more of his armour with that move from earlier, but we don't know what condition Kakashi is in."

"And we don't know how long it will take for Aoba to find him and bring him back, I think we'll need to-" Naruto was cut off as Kushimaru dashed at them, using his claw to slice apart the Roots blocking his way, before smashing the Blond boy over the head with his hardened heel and kicking him into the distance.

"Naruto!" Fu screamed, "I'll get you for that!" she turned on Kushimaru and coated her legs in the Black Chitin Armour of Chomei before entering a Taijutsu exchange with Kushimaru. To her own surprise, she find herself gaining significant ground in the fight, as she was much more used to fighting with the Chitin Armour than Kushimaru was, and he clearly wasn't experienced in using his claw or tail arm for Taijutsu. Seeing her chance, Fu jumped up and kneed Kushimaru in the chest, cracking his armour, before back flipping off of him and coating her right arm in more Chitin, which spawned a long, barbed stinger. " **Seven Tail Art: Hornet Stinger!** " she yelled, before stabbing the stinger toward Kushimaru. The Lanky Ninja moved his claw to defend his chest, but Fu's attack was a feign, so she instead kicked off the claw and spun in the air to stab the stinger into Kushimaru's side; where she had cracked earlier.

The Stinger went right through the cracked armour and pierced all the way through Kushimaru's abdomen, making him roar in pain. Blood began ooze from the wound and Fu smirked as she went to pull out the barbed stinger, knowing it would do more damage coming out than it did going in, but Kushimaru growled and grabbed her wrist tightly in his tail-like arm, discarding his sword in the process.

"I'll make you regret that! You little bitch!" he spat, tightening his grip, which shattered the Chitin on Fu's arm and broke her wrist. Fu screamed and desperately fought to get away while Kushimaru grimaced and used his claw to cut the stinger short, so it couldn't be pulled out. At least if it was inside him, his bleeding would be slowed, as if the stinger was a cork. "I might not be able to kill you, but I sure as shit can rip off your limbs!" he declared cruelly, opening his claw and placing it around Fu's captured arm. Yamato desperately moved his Root Walls to try and stop Kushimaru, but they did nothing but break against the man's armour. Seeing her last chance at rescue fail, Fu closed her eyes and prepared herself for the worst.

But the worst never came.

An ear-splitting shriek echoed across the clearing, but it was not Fu's voice, it was Kushimaru that was doing the shrieking. Fu's eyes snapped open and saw what any normal person would have considered impossible; a Giant Golden Fox, the size of the average house, biting down hard on her captor, holding almost the whole mutated ninja in its jaws. The beast's teeth were managing to pierce the armour in several places, and the pain of those teeth forced Kushimaru's grip to slacken, allowing somebody to grab Fu from his grip and leap back.

Fu looked up to see she was being carried by Sasuke Uchiha, whom dropped her beside Yamato, whom was now being reinforced by Anko, Sai, Sakura and Aoba. "Sasuke!? How did you get here so fast?" she asked.

Sasuke grinned, "We were already half-way here after beating Haku and the others. Aoba met up with us and then a moment ago, Naruto came crashing into us." he explained.

"Speaking of which, I've told them about Kushimaru being behind this mess, but I don't know what's happened since. Care to fill us in while Naruto plays with his new chew toy?" Aoba asked, almost feeling sorry for the shrieking Kushimaru.

Fu quickly informed them all of what happened, while Sasuke and Anko did the same for her. "Kakashi-Sensei, along with Hayate and Yugao, were too injured to fight, so when Aoba found us, they stopped and made camp with Zabuza. Speaking of him, he wanted to come and help fight too; he's pissed after finding out about Kushimaru..." Sasuke said, downplaying exactly how mad the swordsman had been… The young Uchiha had never heard such bad language…, "But on top of being our prisoner at the moment, he is too banged up as well. Not that we'll likely need the help any more. Naruto has this fight won already!"

No sooner had Sasuke finished his sentence did Naruto go flying over their heads with a loud yelp. "Me and my big mouth..." the Uchiha grumbled as he and the others turned to Kushimaru. The lanky ninja was badly damaged now, with much of his chitin armour being broken or completely pulled off by Naruto's teeth, leaving the man bleeding profusely. On top of that, his claw had been broken, leaving only the top half of the pincer, and his tail-like arm had been ripped off only a few segments down from the shoulder.

"I am really getting sick of you Leaf Ninja! Why can't I kill any of you!?" Kushimaru growled, much of his straw-coloured hair now painted red by his blood. "I fought in the last Great War! I fought in the Bloodline Purges! And I survived and thrived through it all! Now I'm being blown up and dismembered all when I'm supposed to be at my strongest! Well enough is enough… My Boss can kill me if he wants, but I'm making sure I murder every last one of you shits; especially those Tailed Beast loving brats!"

The Leaf Ninja moved around the clearing to encircle Kushimaru, and Naruto came lumbering back in his giant Fox Form, ready to finish the battle. " **Hidden Mist Jutsu!** " Kushimaru yelled, causing a cloud of mist to fall on the area, blinding everyone. Sasuke tried to use his new Sharingan, but ran into the same problem as Kakashi and so was unable to see through it.

"Now I'll take my time cutting you all to ribbons!" Kushimaru's voice echoed. Before anyone knew what was happening, cuts began to appear on all of their bodies, with Naruto suffering the worst of them thanks to his large body. The deranged ninja was charging about in the mist, slashing everyone with his broken claw and then escaping before they could retaliate or grab him. The wounds were shallow at first, but after a few moments, Kushimaru became bolder and began cutting deeper and closer to the vital areas. He wanted this to be a drawn our death for all of them; as revenge for what they had done to him.

"Damn it! Everybody come here!" Naruto yelled through the mist, sending his tails out to grab them all. Seven of his tails successfully wrapped around his seven comrades and the remaining two flailed around in the mist to try and corner the enemy, though this act proved fruitless. "Does anyone have a plan!?" the Fox Boy asked.

"I think I do!" Sasuke said urgently. "And if you're up to it Naruto, we'll be able to take this guy alive!"

"Why would we do that at this point!?" Anko yelled, more than a little pissed about being covered in mist again.

"He's got a Boss, right? The one who ordered him to capture Fu and Naruto? Don't you think that information would be useful to us?" Sasuke retorted. Anko grumbled a bit; if anyone but Sasuke or Naruto had talked to her like that, they'd be nursing a few good wounds.

"What's the plan Sasuke? GAH!" Naruto suddenly cried out as Kushimaru found his body again and began slashing at it, forcing Naruto to curl into a ball to protect his friends. "And hurry!"

"Use Wind Style to blow away the mist, then we'll hold him down. Then you can use that Yang Style Jutsu to take out his ability to fight! Without his ninjutsu and sword, we can take him easily!" The Uchiha said.

Naruto frowned a bit. He wasn't sure if he could use the Yang Style properly… it had only worked once every three tries, and he'd never used it on a real target before. Still, short of killing the enemy, there was no other way, and Naruto was still unsure about taking a life so the young genin relented. "Okay, we'll try it. But we'll need to break his chest armour, and we'll need some way to take him out if my Jutsu fails."

"I'll handle it Brat. A quick stab and it'll be over for him, just say the word." Anko said with a grin.

"Naruto, leave the Wind Style to me! You focus on your jutsu." Fu added.

"And we'll handle breaking the chest armour. I've got just the move." Sakura said, cracking her knuckles.

"Then that leaves Sasuke, Sai and myself to hold him down. We can do it." Yamato said.

Naruto gave a foxy grin. "Okay! Operation: Lobster Dinner is a go!" he yelled, spinning his body as he uncurled himself; gently flinging his comrades away into the mist and flinging Fu high into the sky. Fu quickly flew through the air to above the centre of the mist, before breathing deeply.

"Chomei, please give me all the strength you can!" she begged.

" **You've got it Fu! Take it!"** Chomei answered, channelling as much chakra as their seal would allow.

The power flowed through Fu and she roared " **Wind Style: Beetle Squall!** " before flapping her wings and causing a massive burst of wind to slam down into the mist, causing it to blow away and exposing everyone's positions, including Naruto, whom was now in his Feral Human Form and running through dozens of handsigns. Kushimaru cursed loudly and moved to leap up at Fu, but he was stopped by Sakura, whom had been flung towards him by Aoba.

"Take this, you monster! **CHERRY BLOSSOM IMPACT!** " Sakura yelled, slamming her chakra-filled fist into Kushimaru's cracked chest armour. The force of the impact broke Sakura's hand, but she stifled her screams and pushed through, successfully shattering the chitin armour and revealing a still human-looking chest underneath.

"Shit!" the man cursed as he was forced to land back on the ground. The second he touched the earth; roots shot out and grabbed his ankles, leaving him unable to move as Sai bound his tail arm with Ink Snakes and Sasuke bound his claw arm with Ninja Wire.

"Naruto! NOW!" Sasuke ordered.

Naruto finished his handsigns and his Nine Tails each began to glow with Golden Chakra as an intricate array of seals appeared on the tips of each one. " **YANG STYLE: NINE PILLARS OF HEAVEN!** " Suddenly, each of the Nine Tails focused their seal array into a ball on the end of the tail, then reshaped the ball into a spear, which shot toward the immobile Kushimaru. Two spears shot through his eyes and the remaining seven shot through his torso in a cross-formation, leaving no wounds or any signs of being there, aside from the slight smoking on the skin. As soon as the jutsu was completed, Naruto collapsed from Mental Exhaustion, while Kushimaru fell limp, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Sasuke, Sai and Yamato released their bindings and Kushimaru crumbled to the floor; his transformation melting away and leaving him in his human form again. "What did you do to me!? I can't move!?" he yelled angrily, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"My jutsu takes a lot out of me, but it takes everything out of you...literally. I've destroyed the Eight Gates of your body, along with your Prime Tenketsu. You'll never be able to mould Chakra again, and any chakra placed in your body will begin to leak out. You're Ninja career is over." Naruto said weakly, as Fu helped him sit up. Both she and Naruto were back to their normal human forms too.

Kushimaru looked unbelievingly at Naruto, before allowing himself to fall on his back, laughing bitterly. "To think, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist was done in by a little brat. I can't even use my Cursed Seal any more..." he muttered, causing Anko to glare at him. The Black Seal on his chest had been obliterated by Naruto's attack, so there was no signs of it any more, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the Cursed Seal on Kushimaru had been similar to hers…

"It's over now. You won't be able to hurt anyone any more." Sasuke said, picking up the Nuibari and handing it to Yamato. "You'll be imprisoned for the rest of your days."

Kushimaru laughed again. "No, I won't. I only need to say a single word; and I'll be killed. But since you brats took me down, I'll give you the benefit of context. The name of the people I work for is Akatsuki!"

Once the word left his lips, a long black rod shout out of his heart, causing him to choke and vomit blood, before finally dying, wearing the same cruel smile on his face. Anko and Aoba cursed and Sakura tried fruitlessly to perform emergency medical care, but it was too late. Sasuke frowned and looked towards Naruto, whom wore a sad expression. "Come on, we need to meet up with the others." Sasuke said.

"Yeah." Naruto replied quietly. He looked at the body of the man that had caused so much pain and misery, and despite everything, Naruto felt sorrow. "Let's go."

Fu helped Naruto to his feet and unsure of herself, gave Naruto a comforting hug, which brought a smile to his face. "Let's go home Fu. To the Hidden Leaf Village."

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Okay! So a lot has happened this chapter! Three more chapters will be in this arc before we move on to the next one!**

 **What did you think about my idea of Kushimaru with a Cursed Seal? Did you enjoy the fight? Give me your opinions!**

 **Also, on an important note; Voting for the first position in both Harems is now over. Any votes from now on will go to the poll for the next position. The winners will be revealed in the coming chapters!**


	23. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 13

**AN:**

 **This one's a bit shorter than normal, since the last one was so long**

Okay! This chapter will deal with the fates of Zabuza, Haku and Ameyuri, as well as the journey back to the Hidden Leaf.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 13: FORK IN THE RIVER**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Kushimaru laughed again. "No, I won't. I only need to say a single word; and I'll be killed. But since you brats took me down, I'll give you the benefit of context. The name of the people I work for is Akatsuki!"_

 _Once the word left his lips, a long black rod shout out of his heart, causing him to choke and vomit blood, before finally dying, wearing the same cruel smile on his face. Anko and Aoba cursed and Sakura tried fruitlessly to perform emergency medical care, but it was too late. Sasuke frowned and looked towards Naruto, whom wore a sad expression. "Come on, we need to meet up with the others." Sasuke said._

" _Yeah." Naruto replied quietly. He looked at the body of the man that had caused so much pain and misery, and despite everything, Naruto felt sorrow. "Let's go."_

 _Fu helped Naruto to his feet and unsure of herself, gave Naruto a comforting hug, which brought a smile to his face. "Let's go home Fu. To the Hidden Leaf Village."_

 **XOXOXOX**

It was a fairly quiet and slow walk to the Camp that Yugao and Hayate had prepared, but after the hectic battles of the previous night, none of the Leaf Ninja could truly complain. They were just happy to be safe now. Yamato had wrapped up Kushimaru's body and sealed it and the Nuibari into a scroll, which Naruto had provided. The young blond would have done the sealing himself, but his sensei had refused, deciding that Naruto needed a bit of rest. It felt odd to Naruto, to feel as tired as he did, but he simply chalked it up to emotional exhaustion.

After an hour of walking in the pre-dawn light, the group finally made it to the camp. Tents had been set up around a Camp Fire, and those that had not been in the fight with Kushimaru were there to greet them. Kakashi, whom was propped up against a tree (since he still couldn't move), gave an eye smile to the group.

"I see you're all back safe. Any serious injuries?" he asked.

"No Sensei. Only minor wounds and the injuries to Aoba's arms. I patched them up." Sakura answered, sitting herself down between Yugao and Haku.

Haku, Zabuza and Ameyuri were all sitting around the camp fire too, their hands and feet bound and their chakra sealed off. It was an embarrassing position for the two Swordsmen, but considering the alternative was death, they complied with minimal resistance. "So, I'm guessing that bastard is dead." Zabuza stated coldly. Yamato simply held up the scroll and nodded. "Good. That sick bastard ruined everything. We thought we were doing what the Rebellion wanted, but now we're being hunted by them AND the Mist. This whole thing has been a colossal fuck-up!"

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Zabuza. I don't think you're a bad guy, you just wanted what's best for your village." Naruto said, sitting across them the swordsmen.

"Tch, feels weird to get sympathy from a brat, especially one we basically kidnapped. For what its worth, I'm sorry about that. If I'd known what that Lanky Shit had in mind for you and Fu, I'd have told him where he could shove that needle of his..." Zabuza said, giving a lop-sided grin to the blond. Naruto smiled back. He had to admit that for all Zabuza's vulgarity and gruffness, he was a decent guy.

"Not to be rude, but I think we should discuss what happens next." Haku said. "What happened with Kushimaru? And what will happen to us?"

Yamato gave a quick report on the battle with Kushimaru, causing more than a few shocked reactions at the mentions of the Cursed Seal, as well as a proud look from Kakashi when they got to the part about Naruto's Yang Jutsu and how everyone worked together to land it. Once the Wood User was finished, Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Okay. What I'm about to say will never leave this camp; got it?" everybody gave uncertain nods. "Good. Now, technically, Zabuza's only crime is being a Missing-Nin and conspiring to kidnap an Ally of the Leaf. If the Ally of the Leaf, namely Naruto, does not press charges, then that crime is basically ignored. Haku's crimes are the same, minus the Missing-Nin since she isn't an official ninja for any nation. So it might be possible for this to end in a way that is beneficial to the Leaf, and doesn't get you three locked up for the rest of your lives." Kakashi explained.

The three Mist Ninja looked at each other before turning back to Kakashi. "Okay, what's the catch?" Ameyuri asked.

"To be frank; you are the catch, Ameyuri." the Copy Ninja said. "While the crimes of Zabuza and Haku could be ignored or forgiven, you killed several Waterfall Ninja. That is beyond what we can cover up. But, if Zabuza and Haku agree to come with us and Join the Hidden Leaf, we can allow you to escape us and go join the Rebellion for real. We could even give you Kushimaru's corpse and Sword as a way to prove your loyalty to them."

The Genin of Team 7 plus Fu looked ecstatic at the idea, while the Jonin looked a bit more cautious. Zabuza on the other hand, was suspicious. "Okay, why do you want us to join your village? And why do you want Ameyuri to run back to the Rebellion?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

"It's true that until a short time ago, I had planned to just take you all to prison, but the situation has changed. Firstly, Naruto seems to think the three of you are good people, and we've never known him to be wrong about a person's character. Secondly, Fu has agreed to come to Leaf and us sparing you can be considered a little thank you gift from us to her, since she also seems to like you. But thirdly, and most crucially; Kushimaru was a major threat and wielded the power of a Cursed Seal. If that seal came from who we suspect it did and the Akatsuki is the organisation we think it is, then your power will be needed. Plus, Ameyuri can give the Leaf a diplomatic door to the Mist Rebellion." Kakashi explained.

Zabuza smirked, "So basically, you want our help to kick the ass of whatever organisation is trying to kidnap the brats? You know what, if you can pull this off, I'll join you guys. But I've got one condition; no matter what, you can't let Haku be used as Breeding Stock for her Bloodline."

"We won't let that happen." Naruto said, with Sasuke nodding beside him. "We'll do whatever it takes to protect her!"

"Good! Then we've got a deal. Haku, are you fine with that?" the bandaged man asked. Haku smiled and nodded happily, secretly elated at the thought of having a real home again. "Good. Ameyuri, you cool with it too?"

The swordswoman gave a big grin, "Hey, its better than rotting in a prison cell! At least if the Rebellion tries to kill me, I can go out in a blaze of glory!"

"This is great! Not only is Fu joining us, but Zabuza and Haku too! And we have a contact in Mist!" Naruto cheered, suddenly forgetting his early fatigue as he leapt around in Fox Form. The watching shinobi laughed at the boy's antics, especially once Fu and Sakura made a game of throwing him back and forth like a furry Frisbee.

"Well then, with everything decided, you'll be coming back with us to the Leaf. Zabuza, you and Haku will need to stay restrained and you'll be interrogated when we return to the Leaf, but Anko will make sure its a Yamanaka Interrogation, so you won't be hurt. Is that acceptable?" Yamato asked. Anko gave a cheeky grin, but nodded all the same, and Zabuza and Haku quickly agreed. They couldn't just join another village without having to jump through a few hoops. Once that was decided, Yamato turned to Sai; "I know who you work for, and for the sake of your privacy, I won't reveal it, but we need to know if you'll report this to them."

Sai nodded and gave one of his fake smiles. "I will report it, but my master will not object. He has long hoped for the Leaf to have a hand in the Mist Rebellion, and adding a new bloodline to the village as well as a powerful Elite Jonin will please him. And do not worry; Zabuza, he will not press Haku into a Breeding Program." Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a look. Based on what Sai had said, his leader could not be the Leaf Council as a whole, which left only Danzo or the Hokage. They had both suspected that much already, but it was nice to have the hunch confirmed.

"Excellent, then we are ready to proceed. We released the Waterfall ANBU that were frozen by Haku and sent them back to Shibuki with a message. He knows we'll be heading straight back to the Leaf with both Fu and any prisoners, so we should have nothing to worry about from them." Kakashi said. "We'll camp here for a while, so we can all regain some strength, but first..."

Kakashi threw a Kunai at Ameyuri, which cut her bindings and allowed her to move freely. "If any other Waterfall ANBU come looking, it would be best if you aren't here. Take Kushimaru's body, the Nuibari and your own swords to the Rebellion. Try to get a message to us when you can." he instructed, watching as the Mist Kunoichi picked up the scroll containing Kushimaru and received her swords from Anko.

"Thanks, Copy Ninja. You've done me a favour. I'll be sure to return it." she said, grinning at the Silver Haired Man. She then turned to Zabuza and Haku, "You two take care of yourselves. Don't go getting killed. Haku, grab yourself a good man, and Zabuza..." Ameyuri picked the bound man up by the front of his shirt and ripped of his bandages, "Don't go near any other women!" she laughed, before kissing him fully on the lips. The Leaf Ninja looked on with wide eyes, but Haku didn't seem shocked and Zabuza eagerly returned the kiss.

"Huh, didn't know those two were together..." Naruto said, transforming back to his human form so Sakura couldn't throw him again.

Ameyuri and Zabuza finally stopped kissing and separated, both looking like it was the most natural thing in the world. The Swordswoman turned to the Genin and gave them all an extra big Shark-toothed grin; "As for you brats; I can feel something special about you! You better all grow up to be kick ass Ninja! Especially you two!" she pointed to Fu and Sakura, "The Ninja World needs more Bad ass Kunoichi like me!"

The Genin laughed while the Jonin shook their heads. Finally, with the goodbyes over and done with, Ameyuri shot off into the forest and was soon out of sight. Anko hummed to herself, "It's a shame we couldn't fix it to make her a Leaf Ninja too. She'd be a lot of fun to hang around with. It gets boring with just me and Kurenai."

"I don't know if that would work. Ameyuri is a Crazy Bitch." Zabuza said casually.

"Isn't she your lover?" Sakura pointed out.

Zabuza shrugged. "She's MY Crazy Bitch."

"Um, speaking of lovers..." Sasuke began, blushing a bit, "Sakura and I are going out now." he confessed, the Pink-haired girl sitting next to him and hugging him close as if to emphasize the point. Both waited for a few moments, their faces getting progressively redder as they waited for a response. The first one was from Naruto.

"Finally! Man, I thought you'd have hooked up as soon as everything with Kisuke Haruno came out, but you just had to wait for ages, didn't ya!" he grinned.

"Naruto, that was yesterday." Sasuke pointed out.

"But that's a long time for me!" Naruto retorted.

"You're Immortal! No time is a long time for you!" The Uchiha yelled back. The two boys continued to argue back and forth and trade little insults, making Sakura giggle and lean towards Fu and Haku.

"Those two do this all the time. They're like brothers." she said with a small smile.

For the remainder of their rest period, the group talked and got to know one another. Haku explained her past in the Bloodline Purges and Zabuza talked about his failed Coup, while Sakura spoke of her uncle and Sasuke talked about the Uchiha Massacre. Everyone of the group had a story and a less than ideal past, but that was the reality of the Ninja World. The life of a Ninja was short and brutal, but at least they could take comfort in the fact they weren't alone any longer.

It was noon by the time they finally packed up camp. Kakashi was still unable to move, so Yamato carried the man on his back while the others were able to move. Even in such a fragile position, Kakashi still used the situation to teach his students how to properly escort captured prisoners by making his Genin take turns carrying Haku while Anko carried Zabuza. The Ex-Mist Ninja had kicked up a fuss over being carried about like a child, but Anko threatened him into being quiet and so he kept his mouth shut, aside from the occasional mumble about Anko being like Ameyuri…

The Journey home was uneventful until they reached the border to the Land of Fire. Normally, since they were Leaf Ninja, they wouldn't need to check in at the border, but they were stopped by Waterfall Ninja that had been ordered to get a report from the team. The Ninja from Waterfall took great care to not acknowledge Fu, but the mint-haired girl didn't let it bother her. She had been accepted by a new group of people who loved her despite being a Jinchuriki, so why would she care about the petty opinions of those that had excluded her? Still, even with Fu not being bothered by the slight, the others were and when Kakashi gave a verbal report to the Waterfall Ninja, he spoke curtly and made it clear that Fu was now a citizen of the Leaf and that there would be consequences for any untoward behaviour against her.

Needless to say, the Waterfall Ninja took even greater care to avoid and ignore Fu, though she allowed herself a small measure of revenge by tormenting the hapless border guards with incessant questions that they'd have to answer or suffer Anko's wrath.

When it came time to finally cross into the Land of Fire, Fu paused and looked back at the Land that had been her home for her entire life.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. "I know that this is hard for you; even after everything that place did to you, it was still your home."

Fu nodded and silently stared into the Land of Waterfalls, her eyes slowly welling up with tears. Finally, she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "I have a new home now." she said, before turning and looking into Naruto's eyes. "You saved me, both from Kushimaru and from Waterfall. I owe you so much for that… I swear I'll make it up to you! And when you make your paradise for the Tailed Beasts, I'll be by your side! No matter what!" she declared.

The Fox Boy grinned wide and held out his fist, "There's no need to pay me back, after all, that's what friends are for!"

Fu swore she would never get tired of seeing that grin, or the feeling that bubbled up in her chest whenever Naruto called her his friend. With the most brilliant smile she had ever made, Fu bumped her fist against Naruto's, and deep within her, Chomei gave a contented sigh. Sasuke watched the exchange with a smile, though he was slightly worried as well; whether Naruto knew it, or Fu admitted it, the Seven Tails Jinchuriki was head over heels for Naruto, and that could only mean drama back home.

" _Maybe it'll work out."_ the Uchiha thought to himself, _"Hinata isn't the jealous type and Naruto's dense when it comes to other girls. It would take somebody doing something very stupid to make a mess of this."_

Somewhere in the Leaf, some self-important councillors sneezed.

When Team 7 and their escorts had left the Leaf, it had taken them only two days to reach the border, but the return trip took three days thanks to their extra luggage and prisoners, as well as their injured members, but the journey was spent showing the Genin, Haku and Zabuza what the Land of Fire had to offer, from landmarks to small civilian villages. They had even spent the night in a Festival Town, where the Genin were permitted to act like kids as opposed to Ninja, with even Haku being allowed to roam without restraints on the promise she would behave. By the time they reached the Hidden Leaf Village, Fu and Haku were even more excited to live there, and Zabuza was pretty happy with the idea too.

"Ah, home at last! It's been a messy first mission, but it was worth it!" Naruto cheered.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. We need to report to the Hokage, and there will almost definitely be a Council Meeting." Yamato said as he signed the team back into the village.

"Actually, I think that report might have to wait..." Sasuke said grimly, as he pointed to a man running towards them.

The man was wearing the standard dark blue kimono of a Hyuga servant, and by the Headband on his forehead and his Byakugan eyes, he was a Branch Family member. He stopped in front of Naruto and bowed.

"Naruto-sama! Please, we need you to come quickly!" he said urgently.

"What's going on? Has something happened?" Naruto asked.

"It's Hinata-sama! Something terrible happened while you were away. Please, Hiashi-sama asks that you hurry!"

Naruto frowned. "Then lets go. Take me to Hinata-chan!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **And a little cliffhanger! Next Chapter will be the resolution to that, as well as the introduction of that long awaited Act, and the beginning of the end for a certain Haruno Councillor…**


	24. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 14

**AN:**

Now we get to Zabuza and Haku's appeal to join the village and see what's been happening with the Hyuga!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 14: COUNCILS, CAGED BIRDS AND RESTORED CLANS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Actually, I think that report might have to wait..." Sasuke said grimly, as he pointed to a man running towards them._

 _The man was wearing the standard dark blue kimono of a Hyuga servant, and by the Headband on his forehead and his Byakugan eyes, he was a Branch Family member. He stopped in front of Naruto and bowed._

" _Naruto-sama! Please, we need you to come quickly!" he said urgently._

" _What's going on? Has something happened?" Naruto asked._

" _It's Hinata-sama! Something terrible happened while you were away. Please, Hiashi-sama asks that you hurry!"_

 _Naruto frowned. "Then lets go. Take me to Hinata-chan!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

Naruto could feel his heart pounding a thousand times a minute as he ran behind the Hyuga Servant, fear following him the whole way. Kakashi and the others had promised to take care of everything until the Council Meeting, including the initial meeting with the Hokage so that Naruto could deal with the problem with Hinata, but that had been a small comfort. The only relief Naruto received was when the servant lead him to the Hyuga Compound instead of the Hospital, which meant that she wasn't in imminent danger of dying.

Once they arrived at the compound, the servant lead Naruto to the Hyuga Council Chambers. Knocking on the door, the servant spoke, "Hiashi-sama, I have brought Naruto-sama."

There was a fumbling behind the door before it suddenly opened to reveal Hikari Hyuga. "Oh Naruto! Thank goodness. Thank you Hiro, you may take a break." she said before pulling Naruto into the room. The Fox Boy had never been allowed into the Hyuga Council Chambers before, though he had snuck in plenty of times. It was a simple room with various relics in glass cabinets along the walls, and no other furniture besides cushions for the Council to sit on. The room was currently full of people, with the entire Hyuga Council, several servants and Hiashi's family.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he spotted his girlfriend sitting beside her younger sister. Hinata was dressed in a white, sleeping kimono and she was much paler than usual, excluding the dark blush on her cheeks that were signs of a fever. Naruto ran over to her and Hinata smiled weakly at him.

"N-Naruto-kun, I'm glad you're back." she said sweetly, though it was clear she wasn't well.

"Hinata-chan, what happened?" Naruto asked fearfully.

"I'll answer that Naruto." Hiashi said gently, tapping the boy's shoulder. "Hinata is very weak at the moment. It seems this is the result of a seal you placed on her for her protection."

Naruto's eyes widened; "My **Cursed Seal Rebound**? But that seal shouldn't be capable of doing this? It's only designed to reflect Cursed Seals like the Caged Bird Seal."

Hiashi nodded, "I know, Naruto. The seal is the cause of Hinata's current weakness, but she would be in a much worse condition if the seal wasn't there."

Naruto's eyes turned cold. "You mean…?"

"Yes Naruto. Bring in the Prisoners." Hiashi ordered. A small group of Hyuga Sentries marched into the room from the opposite side Naruto entered from, and they were escorting three Hyuga Elders that were chained together by their hands. The Nine Tails' blood boiled as he saw the three men, knowing what they had tried to do, but a small smirk of satisfaction grew on his face when he noticed the familiar seal on their foreheads.

"These three traitors," Hiashi spat, "Attempted to place the Caged Bird Seal on my daughter, Hinata. They did this in the dead of night after drugging Hinata and spiriting her away to our shrine in the woods outside the village. Thankfully, your seal saved Hinata from this fate by rebounding the Cursed Seal back onto them and I have been sure to show them EXACTLY how the Caged Bird Seal works for those branded by it. The only problem is that your seal is now causing Hinata to weaken. We took her to the Seal Masters, but they cannot do anything as the seal is of Uzumaki design, so it is apparently impossible for Non-Uzumakis to understand it."

Naruto nodded in understanding, his rage at the elders temporarily forgotten as he turned his attention back to Hinata. "Hinata-chan, can you show me you wrists, ankles and neck please?"

Hinata nodded weakly and Hanabi helped her pull up her sleeves and kimono just enough to reveal the necessary areas. The Hyuga Council gave Naruto a funny look, but he dismissed them; "My seal works by creating rings of lesser seals at this points and then forming a network between them. This way, I can examine the seals without making her remove all her clothes." he said simply, using a finger filled with chakra to make the seals appear.

Satisfied with Naruto's response, the Hyugas watched as Naruto carefully examined each ring of seals before finally giving a happy shout of "Ah ha! Found it!"

"You've identified the problem?" Hiashi asked.

"Yep! Its a pretty simple one. This seal was made specifically to Rebound the Caged Bird Seal, though it works on other Cursed Seals too. However, since the Caged Bird Seal is only applied by one or two people working together, I only made supplied the seal with enough of my chakra to repel two people. Since a third person was involved as well, instead of failing, my seal instead began consuming itself to repel the third person. Now its trying to repair its consumed parts by draining Hinata's chakra." Naruto explained. "But in order to not kill her, the seal is siphoning off the chakra at the same speed she's regenerating it, leaving her at a constant state of near chakra exhaustion."

"I see. Your seal certainly has a lot of checks and counterbalances. Can you fix it?" Hiashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "It'll be easy. The seal itself doesn't need altering, I just need to refill its chakra reserve and repair the damaged bits. It'll only take a moment." he said, before summoning four of his tails and making them touch the rings on Hinata's ankles and wrists while he placed his palms gently on the back of her neck. Hinata mewled at the touch and pushed her neck back, into Naruto's hands, making him smile. Gold Chakra began to flow into the seal and the rings grew thicker before vanishing again. "There, I've fixed it. It now has a much larger chakra supply as well, so this shouldn't happen again."

Hinata almost instantly regained her healthy colour and her feverish blush faded. "Ah, I feel so much better. Thank you Naruto-kun!" she said, before giving Naruto a chaste peck on the cheek. Naruto blushed and a few of the more conservative Hyuga huffed in disapproval, but none dare say anything. Hikari and Hanabi cooed while Hiashi looked away, specifically turning towards the three former Hyuga Elders that had caused this whole mess.

"Well, with Hinata on the road to recovery, the only thing left to do is deal with you three traitors. Executing you via the very seal you tried to place on my daughter seems appropriate." Hiashi stated, staring coldly at the elders.

"Hiashi-sama, we merely acted in defence of the Hyuga Clan! Hinata is not suited to be Clan Heir! She speaks openly of erasing our traditions and uses a bastardised version of our sacred talents! On top of it all, she has allowed that Fox Demon to taint her mind!" one Elder shouted.

"Seriously, again with the Demon thing? Will you get it through your skull that the Tailed Beasts aren't demons!? And why would I corrupt Hinata-chan, I like her the way she is!" Naruto spat back.

Hiashi nodded in agreement. "You fools have allowed your obsession with our Traditions to cloud your minds and it as that same thinking that has held us back as a clan." the Clan Head spoke, seemingly addressing the whole council as opposed to just the traitors. "The world is steadily changing. Civil Wars, New Hidden Villages and even Naruto's unique position as a Human Tailed Beast are all signs of this. We must move forward as a clan and adapt to the changing times. The other clans of the Leaf are doing so, save for one, and we all know what happened to them."

Naruto cringed. The Uchiha had almost been as traditionalist as the Hyuga, though they focused on regaining the past as opposed to preserving it. Much of the Council had similar expressions to Naruto as that thought hit home. Even the traitors were silenced, at least until a female councillor raised a hand to speak. Hiashi acknowledged her and allowed her to address the council.

"Hiashi-sama, though I do not share the opinions or methods of these traitors, I must agree on two issues regarding Hinata-sama's potential as Clan Heir. Many of us believe that she is too quick to abandon our traditions, while many others worry that her temperament is not appropriate for our Clan Head. A Clan Head must be strong in both body and mind, and while we do not question her skill, we fear she would be easily swayed by the other Clans." the councillor spoke, never forgetting her polite and dignified tone of voice. She didn't even seem to harbour the same resentment towards Hinata that many other Hyuga Elites did. "It is the opinion of a select few of us, that Hanabi-sama be named Clan Heir instead."

Hanabi leapt to her feet angrily, "Hey! Nee-chan is the rightful heir! And besides, I'd do things the same as her! The only stuff I'd do differently is learning Gentle Wing Style and dating Naruto! And that's only 'cause I don't have the right Natures, and Naruto-nii-san likes Hinata-nee-chan!"

"That maybe true, Hanabi-sama, but your temperament is much fiercer than your sister's." the lady councillor responded.

Naruto scowled as many of the Councillors began to mutter amongst themselves, obviously agreeing with their fellow councilwoman, but before he could speak, Hinata smiled bravely at him. "Naruto-kun, would you help me stand? My legs are still weak and I'd like to address the council."

"Yeah, of course!" Naruto smiled, gently helping Hinata to her feet and offering his shoulder for her to support herself. Hiashi exchanged a look with his wife and much of the council began whispering even more, either at Hinata's closeness to Naruto, or the sheer oddity of Hinata addressing them.

"Councillors, I know that to many of you, I appear weak-willed or disrespectful of our traditions, but I stand here to tell you; you are wrong. I'll admit, I'm not as fiery as my younger sister or as stern as my father, but I am not weak. I will always fight to assure the prosperity of the Hyuga Clan, even as many of its members treat me as a Pariah for disliking traditions that make slaves of our relatives. No, I have not forgotten that despite how we as a clan act, we are still a family and it pains my heart to see so many good people being treated like servants merely for being born in the wrong branch of the clan. Our traditions are an important part of our identity as a clan, but as my father said, we must move forward and evolve. We must abandon the traditions that hold us back while retaining that which has pushed us forward." Hinata spoke eloquently, reminding many of the Hyuga of her mother, whom sat proudly behind her daughter, beaming with delight at the courage of her eldest child.

The lavender-eyed girl exchanged a small look with Naruto and seeing him smile at her filled her with renewed strength. "And yes, I am in a relationship with Naruto-kun and it is one that I cherish deeply. But never should anyone see this as a bad thing for the Hyuga. Naruto is powerful, immortal and influential with the other clans and the Leaf Council, and he has gone above and beyond to protect our clan in the past, as we'll all remember from the Cloud Incident. Trust Naruto, and trust me, and we'll lead the Hyuga Clan and the Hidden Leaf as a whole into a bright future."

Silence fell across the room. Hiashi and Hikari could feel their cheeks aching from how broad their smiles were and many of the Councillors were shocked to here the "weak and feeble" Hinata speaking with such passion. Again, it was the Female Councillor that broke the silence.

"I-I must admit, Hinata-sama, that I misjudged you. I worried you were not up to the task of leading us, but I was wrong. Please forgive my impudence." she said, bowing her head in a rare show of humility.

"Forgiveness is unnecessary, we are family after all." Hinata smiled.

Hiashi stepped forward and patted Hinata's shoulder, smiling proudly at her. "Spoken as a wise Clan Heir. I am proud of you, Hinata. But we must still deal with the traitors; family or not, they committed a grave offence."

"May I deal with this, Father?" the girl asked.

Hiashi nodded, so Hinata stepped toward the three bound elders. "My father had suggested execution for you, but I would not have that evil seal used if I can help it. So I offer you a choice; live the rest of your days as Branch Members, serving the Main House and accepting the same fate that you wished for me, or accept death as a member of the Main Household. The decision is yours."

Two of the elders immediately accepted mercy, having long forgotten their days as Ninja and the willingness to face death, but the third did not.

"I will accept my death, Hinata-sama. But I request it be at your hand." he said gruffly, "Let us see if your conviction is as strong as your words". Of all the elders Naruto and Hinata had seen, this man was the one that most looked like a retired Ninja. He had small battle scars all over his face, and he carried himself like a young warrior, as opposed to an elderly Councilman. Hinata felt her heart waver, but she remembered the warmth of her father's hand on her shoulder and Naruto's smile, and her strength returned.

"Very well. This will be the first time I've taken a life. Go in peace, Elder." Hinata said quietly, before jabbing two fingers into the man's chest, right where his heart was. On a young, healthy man this would have been a painful and debilitating blow, but against an old man in the twilight of his life, it was more than the heart could handle. Immediately, the old man fell to the ground, his expression stony as he passed into the Pure Land.

Hinata did not speak for the rest of the meeting, though it dismissed shortly after this exchange. Hikari and Hanabi hugged Hinata close and whispered their comforting words to her before leaving with the rest of the Hyuga, leaving only Hinata, Naruto and Hiashi in the chambers. Naruto embraced his lover tightly and she buried her face in his shirt, allowing herself to cry silently. The two genin had a mix of emotions running through them; respect for the Elder that was willing to die for his beliefs and actions, anger at the man for making Hinata do the killing, sorrow at the death and above all, guilt. For Hinata, it was the guilt of the act and for Naruto, it was the guilt of not arguing against the Elder, or acting before Hinata could. The Blond boy wanted so badly to protect the ones he loved, and seeing Hinata sobbing into his chest tore at him more deeply than anyone could ever know.

Hiashi allowed his stern face to soften a bit as he watched, but an ANBU soon arrived with a summons from the Leaf Council. "Okay you two, I'm sorry but we must be going. I know another council meeting isn't something you want to face right now, but it's unavoidable."

Naruto nodded. "Hey, do you want to come too, Hinata-chan? You'll be able to meet Fu, and there's going to be some surprises in store too."

Hiashi frowned, _"More surprises than you think, Naruto."_ he thought.

"Okay, if father doesn't mind. I'd like to meet her! You never did send us a message about her sleeping arrangements." Hinata said, wiping her eyes. She still felt like crying, but there would be time for that later.

"Ah! I knew I forgot something… It's okay though, she's really mellow and cheerful, so she won't mind where she sleeps. Let's go!" Naruto grinned, putting on a happy face to help Hinata forget her pain.

Hiashi led Naruto and Hinata to the Hidden Leaf Council chambers, stopping only to allow Hinata to change back into her normal clothing. When they arrived, they found everyone from the Waterfall Mission standing outside the chamber, talking amongst themselves.

"Hi guys, everything go okay with the report?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. We spoke to the Hokage about Haku and Zabuza too. He was willing to go along with the idea, but I think he gave in a little too easily. He's feeling guilty about something, I just know it." Sasuke said, frowning a bit in worry. If the Hokage felt guilty, it would likely be a pain for Naruto and Sasuke… "By the way, I see you were able to help Hinata. The Hokage told us the situation after our report."

Naruto nodded. "Yup, all sorted! I'll fill you guys in later. For now, Hinata-chan, I'd like you to meet Fu! Fu, this is Hinata Hyuga, my girlfriend!"

Fu and Hinata looked at one another and instantly, both saw something in the other. A kind of kindred spirit, which both girls sensed had something to do with their Foxy friend. Hinata saw the slight blush that would creep on to Fu's face when Naruto spoke her name and the slightest flash of pain in her eyes when Naruto proudly proclaimed the Hyuga as his girlfriend.

" _This girl loves Naruto-kun..."_ Hinata thought. Strangely, that thought didn't upset her as she thought it would, but rather it made her smile a bit in understanding. After all, she knew Fu's history from Naruto, so Hinata understood why the Green-haired girl would fall for Naruto.

On the other hand, Fu couldn't help but feel jealous of Hinata. She was beautiful and had the love and adoration of the person Fu cared for most. How could she not be jealous? Still, Hinata's kind smile as she held out her hand quashed any feelings of resentment before they could form. "A pleasure to meet you, Fu! You and I are going to be room-mates from now on."

Fu smiled and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you too! I look forward to it, I've never had a Room-mate before!" she said excitedly.

Hiashi chuckled. It looked like Fu and Hinata would be good friends before long. "Miss Fu, I am Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Hyuga Clan and your host. If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask." he said.

Fu smiled widely and bowed politely, "Thank you for having me Sir! I'll do my best to be good!"

"Ha ha, do not worry too much about that. Naruto and my youngest daughter cause a fair amount of chaos already, so a little more won't hurt. Just try not to break anything, such as the Elders." Hiashi joked. Fu and the gathered Waterfall Mission Team laughed, happy to have witnessed one of Hiashi Hyuga's rare jokes.

Shortly after, Hiashi entered the Council Chambers for the briefing and not long after that, the Waterfall Mission Team was called into the chambers too, to discuss their recent mission. Naruto smiled and waved at the Hokage, as well as the Clan Heads, but he immediately got the sense of what Sasuke had spoken of earlier… They seemed guilty about something and by the looks of some of the Jonin Council and the ANBU guards, they expected things to get out of control. The only other person that Naruto paid any attention to was Kisuke Haruno, whom still sat smug in his seat with the Jonin Council, wearing that same cool and collected smile like he fancied himself better than those around him.

" _You'll get yours, you bastard. Just you wait..."_ Naruto thought, unaware that Sasuke was sharing the exact same thought.

Hiruzen cleared his throat and turned to the Waterfall Mission Team. "We have four matters to attend to in this meeting, and the first is the official debriefing of the Diplomatic Mission to the Hidden Waterfall Village. Based on the presence of young Fu, the mission was a success. Kakashi Hatake, please deliver your report to the Council.

Kakashi nodded and gave a detailed description of everything that had happened, from Naruto's encounter with the Waterfall Genin that had been tormenting Fu, to the battle with Kushimaru. The only details that were excluded were that Ameyuri had been allowed to escape, and the revelation of Kisuke's abuse of his niece, which was being saved by the Hokage until the other Council Business was done. Once the report was finished, the Councillors were allowed to ask questions.

"Jonin Hatake, why exactly was this mission given in the first place? We know it was to retrieve Fu and bring her back here to live in the Leaf, but for what reason?" a Civilian asked. Fu's status as a Jinchuriki was known by the Clans and some select members of the Shinobi forces, but no Civilians knew, as per Naruto's request.

"Fu possesses a rare Chakra Nature that, due to its extreme recessiveness, cannot be passed down to her children. She was thus targeted by the organisation controlling Kushimaru Kuriarare in order to obtain this chakra. Fu has no living relatives left, though she does have a distant relationship with the Uzumaki Clan, hence why Naruto was sent to bring her here to live with him." Kakashi lied. A cover story had been prepared for him by the Hokage and Danzo.

"A recessive Chakra nature… it sounds similar to the Wood Style of Hashirama-sama. If Kushimaru truly had a Cursed Seal, then it is obvious who wanted her." Elder Koharu frowned. "Regardless of that; Fu, you were a Genin of the Waterfall Village, do you wish to become a Ninja of the Leaf? Your rank of Genin will be retained if you choose it."

One Civilian frowned, "Why offer that choice? The whole reason she was brought here was to join our forces." he said.

"Actually, Fu was promised the right to choose her profession. It was a term of her immigration here." Hiashi corrected. The Civilian Man frowned, but couldn't really say anything against the Clan Head, so kept his mouth shut.

"If the Leaf Village will accept me, I'll happily join your Ninja Forces." Fu said, bowing to the Council.

Everybody; Ninja, Elder, Clan and Civilian, smiled happily. Not only did the Leaf gain a new ninja, but also one with rare powers! It served the interests of everyone on the Council, for better or worse. "Excellent. Then in my capacity as Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, I welcome you Fu, and grant you the rank of Genin. Have Naruto bring you to my office later to receive your Headband. You will also be asked to attend a Skills Assessment at the Academy to decide where best to assign you until a Team can be decided." Hiruzen smiled, patting Fu's head.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Fu smiled. She liked the old Hokage; he reminded her of Shibuki's father.

"Right, onto our second item; the Ex-Mist Ninja, Zabuza Momochi and his adoptive daughter, Haku Momochi, formerly of the Yuki Clan, have been placed in our custody by Team 7 and their Protection detail. They have both requested to join our ranks." the Third said.

There was a stunned silence, and then outrage. Civilians screamed that they be punished for attacking their ninja, while the Jonin argued amongst themselves about the benefits and problems of such an arrangement. Even the Clan Heads were debating each other, though it was calmer than the Jonin. It was Itachi whom finally forced a silence by addressing the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, may we hear the full details of this? It is certainly a bizarre request from former enemies, especially since Zabuza was once so loyal to the Mist." Itachi said. Sasuke looked to his brother with worry in his eyes; Itachi wasn't acting himself. The elder Uchiha would normally allow everyone to wear themselves out with arguments before voicing his quiet opinion, but this time, he had outright silenced the crowd. For whatever reason, Itachi Uchiha was angry, and Sasuke did not like it.

The Hokage had a similar reaction as Sasuke, though he ignored it for now. He knew why Itachi was upset… "Of course, Itachi. It would be best to hear from them ourselves. Inoichi, have the prisoners been interrogated?"

Inoichi stood. "Yes, Hokage-sama. Both have completed their interrogations and undergone Mind Walks, performed by myself. It was a remarkably fast process as neither gave any resistance, even when prodding into areas of thought they were uncomfortable with."

"Very good. In that case, ANBU, please bring the prisoners here." Hiruzen ordered. The ANBU guarding the door nodded and disappeared in a flicker, before reappearing a short time later with Haku and Zabuza. Both looked uncomfortable, as their restraints had been replaced by the heavier, T&I variants, but they maintained their composure. Seeing them, Hiruzen gave them both stern looks, "Well, I think it is best if the two of you explained yourselves." he said.

"I'll talk for us both. Haku just obeyed my orders, so I'm the only one with explaining to do. The Copy Ninja probably told you what happened right? Well its all true. That bastard Kushimaru played us for fools. We thought we were gathering Jin- uh, powerful ninja for the Rebellion, so we could finally end the Bloody Mist and restore it to its former glory, but we got tricked and now we're wanted by both the Village and the Rebellion. We're asking to join you guys as a way of paying back your ninja for sparing our lives." Zabuza said, trying his best not to glare at the Civilians that were looking down on him.

"And why should we agree to this?" Tsume Inuzuka asked.

Zabuza smirked, "Well, I was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. I wield the Executioner's Blade and I know its secrets, so I can repair it from just the hilt. Not only that, but I know all the details of the other six swords AND I am an Elite Jonin level Ninja with skills in both Swordsmanship and Water Style. Plus, I can give you all the information you could ever want on Yagura and the current regime in the Hidden Mist. Plus, Haku here has the Ice Style of the Yuki Clan and skill with Senbon that would rival an ANBU elite, as well as being able to make poisons from just about anything she can get her hands on."

"We can vouch for their skills. If I hadn't used the Kyubi Pill, I'd never have beaten him after the fight with Ameyuri, and Sasuke had to unlock the Sharingan and have Haku overexert herself before he could beat her." Kakashi added.

The Council looked at the Waterfall Mission Team, whom all stood to vouch for the two Ninja. "Be that as it may, you still attacked our Leaf Ninja. That alone makes this arrangement impossible." Kisuke sneered.

Sasuke stepped forward, whispering "Play along" to Naruto as he went. "Actually, Jonin Haruno," he spat the name out like it was poison, "Zabuza and Haku only retaliated when we caught them. Their actual crime was kidnapping Fu and Naruto, but neither of them are willing to press charges."

"And that is reason enough to let them stay in our village?" Kisuke asked.

Sasuke snorted, "This council meeting is to decide if they are going to be Leaf Ninja. There's no question about them staying in the village."

"What do you mean, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

"Well, since Naruto and I are Clan Heirs, we've been studying Clan Laws, so we can do a good job when we're older." the younger Uchiha started. Team 7, plus the Hokage nodded along, remembering Naruto using Clan Laws to keep Fu safe from the Council before even accepting the mission. "And there's this barely used law that was put in place by Madara Uchiha, in that short time between Hashirama Senju becoming First Hokage and Madara betraying the Leaf. It's the "Clan Tribute" Act, that basically says that if a Clan Shinobi captures a tool, jutsu or ninja in battle, that shinobi takes full ownership of the captured items or people, with only the Hokage having veto powers."

"Wait, so you are saying that you and Naruto have taken these two as Tributes?" Elder Homura asked.

"Yes Elder. I defeated Haku in single combat, meaning I have claimed her as my Tribute. If the council refuses to allow her to join the Ninja Forces, she will live as my personal guard." Sasuke replied.

Danzo smiled to himself, pleased with how well Sasuke was controlling the situation. He and Naruto had been forcing the Council to dance in the palms of their hands since they were Academy Students, and seeing them use the laws to further their own agendas, as well as serve the greater good, made him proud of the new generation. "But," the old man began, deciding to test the boys, "Zabuza was not defeated by Naruto, but by Kakashi, and he is not part of a Clan."

Sasuke stumbled for a moment, but like any good teammate, Naruto was there to catch him. "Actually, since I was the Leader of the Mission Team, being named the Ambassador, and the mission involved the betterment of my Clan by retrieving another member, everyone on the mission could be considered a vassal of my clan, so anything they win in battle would be considered mine."

"I'm glad you remembered that part, 'cause I didn't..." Sasuke whispered with a smirk. Naruto chuckled and looked to Zabuza and Haku. The two didn't exactly look happy about the idea of being Tributes, but if it was that or prison, they would take their chances with Tribute.

"They told us that law too. We agreed to serve 'em if your village won't take us. It would be a shame though, having a powerful bloodline and a great swordsman working for a couple of kids when we could be serving the village." Zabuza said. Immediately, the Civilians and Jonin looked worried; the Civilians didn't like the idea of a man known as "The Demon of the Bloody Mist" serving their own resident demon (even though Naruto constantly reminded them that he WASN'T A DEMON!) while the Jonin were nervous about the Uchiha Clan building itself back up with powerful foreign bloodlines.

"Well, as I have already allowed Naruto and Sasuke to keep their tributes, we should see if they will serve just the boys, or the village. Let us vote: all those in favour of allowing Zabuza and Haku Momochi to become Leaf Ninja?" Hiruzen asked.

Most of the Council raised their hands, with only a few keeping them down. "And all those opposed?" three people raised their hands. Hiruzen smiled. "Then it is decided; Zabuza and Haku will be made official Hidden Leaf Ninja. Zabuza will be given the rank of Chunin and placed in a probationary period of three years with promotion being impossible until its completion. Haku will given the rank of Genin and placed in probationary period of one year, with promotion beyond Chunin being impossible until its completion. Both of you will be required to report to the Academy for assessments, along with Fu, and Zabuza will be required to give all important information he possesses to the T&I department." the Hokage declared. "Now, on to more...unfortunate business."

Naruto and Sasuke felt dread creep up their backs. They had a feeling this was going to be bad…

"The third item of business today; the official placement of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha into the CRA, officially known as the Clan Restoration Act."

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Okay, so we didn't quite get to the CRA part in this chapter, but I wanted to flesh out some stuff with the Hyuga Clan and give Hinata some time in the spotlight since she's been absent most of the arc.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next time for the last chapter of the Arc!**


	25. Fu of Waterfall: Chapter 15

**AN:**

And now we're here; the final chapter of the Fu of Waterfall Arc! Stay tuned at the end for the announcement of the next Arc and its release date!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 02: FU OF WATERFALL**

 **CHAPTER 15: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _Well, as I have already allowed Naruto and Sasuke to keep their tributes, we should see if they will serve just the boys, or the village. Let us vote: all those in favour of allowing Zabuza and Haku Momochi to become Leaf Ninja?" Hiruzen asked._

 _Most of the Council raised their hands, with only a few keeping them down. "And all those opposed?" three people raised their hands. Hiruzen smiled. "Then it is decided; Zabuza and Haku will be made official Hidden Leaf Ninja. Zabuza will be given the rank of Chunin and placed in a probationary period of three years with promotion being impossible until its completion. Haku will given the rank of Genin and placed in probationary period of one year, with promotion beyond Chunin being impossible until its completion. Both of you will be required to report to the Academy for assessments, along with Fu, and Zabuza will be required to give all important information he possesses to the T &I department." the Hokage declared. "Now, on to more...unfortunate business."_

 _Naruto and Sasuke felt dread creep up their backs. They had a feeling this was going to be bad…_

" _The third item of business today; the official placement of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha into the CRA, officially known as the Clan Restoration Act."_

 **XOXOXOX**

Never before had a silence in the Leaf Council Chambers been so sinister. Hiruzen Sarutobi had been Hokage for many years and had sat through hundreds, if not thousands of these stupid meetings and listened to complaints and arguments on everything from Clan Inheritance Laws to some greedy Civilian wanting to transfer funds from the Ninja Program to his own businesses (Hiruzen still had no idea how that fool had gotten it into his head that that was okay…), but the Elderly Hokage would have gladly sat through it all again if it meant not having to see the look of anger, horror and betrayal on the faces of not only Naruto and Sasuke, but also Hinata and Sakura, whom knew what the CRA was.

The Clan Restoration Act was infamous in the Leaf as a tool to increase the size of small clans or restore clans to their original greatness after being severely damaged by war or some other incident by allowing the male heirs to have multiple wives, however it had become used as a way for the indolent sons of small clans to build themselves legal harems, or in worse cases, used by corrupt councillors to force women with rare bloodlines into breeding programs. It had been put in place by Tobirama after he saw how much the Senju Clan had diminished in size, but he had never had the heart to use it after his own wife died. Additional clauses had been subtly added over the years which made the law more insidious, including legal minimums to the number of spouses one could have under the Act.

And now it was being placed on Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, popularly considered the Villages most eligible bachelors, though it varied on who you asked.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Naruto roared, his anger forcing him into his feral form. "Do you really think we're just going to go along with this!?" the boy turned to face the Hokage, "Are you seriously allowing this!?"

"Naruto, I did my best to stop the act being placed on you. I vetoed it when it first passed the Council, but it was taken to the Daimyo and he allowed it. There is nothing I can do; you are the only surviving member of the Uzumaki Clan and the Council and Daimyo agreed to allow the Act to increase the size of the clan. The only way to avoid it would be to renounce the Uzumakis' status as a Clan of the Leaf or have another Uzumaki take your place." Hiruzen explained, looking ashamed that he had not been able to do more.

Naruto froze; his mother was the only other true Uzumaki alive, and on top of being in a coma, she was a woman, so she'd be forced into a breeding program. There was also Fu, whom was viewed as a distant member of the clan due to her cover story, but the Fox Boy would never allow her to be subjected to the CRA… and if he renounced his clan status, he wouldn't be able to protect her or any other Jinchuriki he brought back to the Leaf… "I don't really have a choice, do I…?" Naruto muttered bitterly. He looked up at Hinata, sitting beside her father. The young heiress looked as upset as he did, though Naruto found it odd that she kept flashing looks at Fu, whom was glaring angrily at the few smirking Council members. Fu didn't know what the CRA was, she only knew it was upsetting her friends.

"Fine." Naruto spat. "Since I have no choice, I'll agree, but I want full rights to choose who I want and give that person full right to refuse. And I'll be dating them, not instantly marrying them! And Hinata-chan, as my girlfriend before this stupid act, will get a say in my relationships. If anyone has a problem with that, then I swear they'll regret it!" he threatened. Most of the anti-Naruto councillors bristled at the threat, but they didn't argue. Itachi, Hiashi and Hiruzen had given them all severe warnings not to mess with Sasuke or Naruto again, especially after they enacted the CRA.

Sasuke listened to the whole affair with more calm than Naruto, but inside, he was just as angry. The only other living Uchiha were Shisui (a traitor), his mother (a woman) and Itachi. The elder Uchiha brother must have sensed Sasuke's thoughts and spoke before he could voice them. "Sasuke, I would have had the CRA placed on me instead, but to my dismay, I am unable to have children. As the Council knows, I have been plagued by an illness, caused by a poison used during the Massacre by Shisui, and while the Medical department has saved me from dying, it has left me sterile. However, if you are truly against this Sasuke, I will renounce the Uchiha as a Leaf Clan. Mother has already given her support for this."

The Young Uchiha actually stopped to think about it for a moment. Removing the Uchiha as a Leaf Clan would reduce their power in the Village drastically, but it would also give them a chance to work their way back up again and regain the respect of the other Ninja, whom still widely resented the Uchiha for their ability to easily steal their hard-earned Jutsu. Kisuke Haruno, seeing this as his moment to get Sakura into the Uchiha's family (he obviously didn't know about their new relationship), cleared his throat.

"While Young Sasuke-sama thinks things through, I'd like to put forth another candidate for the CRA; the Yuki Clan. Young Haku has already joined us and she possesses the Ice Style. Surely placing her in the CRA would be a wise thing to do?" he said, smiling a fake smile.

Sakura scowled at her Uncle and Zabuza, who knew of the Act, stepped forward. "Like hell! She is my daughter and I won't let you turn her into Breeding Stock! Brats, we had a deal about this!" the man said, turning to Naruto and Sasuke.

"The Yuki aren't a Leaf Clan, and even if they were, she can simply renounce their clan status. You are safe, Haku." Naruto said, greatly looking forward to watching Kisuke's world fall apart around him.

"Well, strictly speaking, since she is a part of an established Clan and one of our Ninja now, we can name the Yuki as a Clan of the Hidden Leaf. I'm sure the Daimyo will be fine with that. And I'm afraid a female under the CRA cannot renounce their clan's status...a precaution against fickle heirs that put their own comfort before their duty to the Leaf." Kisuke sneered.

Sasuke sighed, he knew what Kisuke was doing. Hell, everyone in the room did (minus the still confused Fu). Kisuke would be disposed of soon, but now that he'd voiced the plan, another Councillor might suggest it later… "I'm sorry." Sasuke whispered to Sakura, before moving over to Haku and Zabuza and saying the same thing.

In a flare of dramatic movement, Sasuke pulled Haku against his side and placed his arm around her waist before glaring at Kisuke Haruno, "You can't put her in the CRA. I've already claimed her as one of my future wives. Do you have an issue with that?"

Haku blushed but played along, pretending to swoon and push herself further into Sasuke's embrace. Sakura bit her tongue, knowing it was an act, but inwardly swore that her Uncle would pay for causing this… Zabuza scowled, but said nothing, begrudgingly admitting it was the only way out that they had. The Council was satisfied by Sasuke's response and Kisuke smirked wider than before, imagining what it would be like to be a part of the combined Uchiha-Yuki Clan.

"Well then, there is nothing more to be said. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha will be officially placed under the Clan Restoration Act, with Hinata Hyuga and Haku Momochi being named their first partners, is that acceptable?" Hiruzen asked.

"Actually, if she agrees, I would like for Sakura Haruno to be named my first partner and Haku my second." Sasuke said, his tone making it clear that he wasn't interested in discussing the whats and whys of the arrangement. Sakura blushed but nodded her own agreement while Naruto playfully nudged her with his elbow. Jonin Haruno was just about ready to break into song with how happy he was; after all the trouble he'd gone through to properly train and groom his niece into the perfect Uchiha wife, it was finally paying off! At least as far as he knew…

"Well well, I am surprised, Sasuke-kun, but impressed all the same. I wish you luck with your lady loves. Now, does anyone else have something to add, or shall we move on to our last order of business?" Hiruzen asked.

No one had anything more to add, and with the chances of Zabuza or Haku going into a frenzy now cleared, the Hokage signalled for the ANBU to remove their restraints, as well as confiscate their Mist Headbands, which the two gave up without issue. "Now we move onto the fourth and final item on today's agenda; a trial. It is a fairly open and shut case with all the evidence we have, but due to the nature of the defendant, the trial must be performed by the Council." the Hokage stated ominously.

Everybody in the room, aside from the Hokage and the Waterfall Mission Team, mumbled to one another, confused about this trial. A trial by the Council and not the Civilian or Ninja Courts? That could only mean the defendant was an Elite Jonin, ANBU, Noble or Clan Head…

Or a fellow Councillor.

"ANBU, bring the defendant to the stand." Sarutobi ordered, pointing to the rarely used seat in the corner of the room. The seat was completely surrounded by small stone walls with seals in the brickwork, which would spring to life and pacify any rowdy prisoners. Four ANBU appeared in the room, but they had no defendant with them, only their blades and a large stack of dossiers. The ANBU with the dossiers began to hand them out, while the remaining three quickly surrounded Kisuke Haruno.

"What are you doing!?" he demanded as he was roughly pulled from his seat and dragged toward the Defendant's Stand.

"Kisuke Haruno, you are hereby charged with the crimes of Child-Abuse, both Physical and Mental, as well as Illegal Grooming of Leaf Shinobi and Conspiracy to forcibly create an Arranged Marriage. How do you plead?" Hiruzen said coldly, having already received the full details of the man's actions from Sakura and her teammates.

"I'm Innocent! That is all a lie!" Kisuke screamed as he was shoved into the stand.

Hiruzen made a note of Kisuke's plea and then promptly ignored his protests. "Councillors, please read the dossiers you have been provided. They contain all the evidence for this case, including statements by the victim; Sakura Haruno, as well as statements from her Teammates, a medical examination performed in the field by Yugao Uzuki, and the mental examination performed by Inonada Yamanaka less than an hour ago."

Naruto blinked and whistled, "Wow, I was only at the Hyuga Compound for an hour! How'd you get all this prepared in time?" he asked.

"You aren't the only one who abuses Shadow Clones. Turns out the Hokage is into that little trick too." Sasuke joked. "And you don't need all of us to give a report."

"Um, I'm a little confused. What's happening here?" Haku asked. She, along with Zabuza and Fu, had only heard a brief synopsis of Sakura's story which basically went; her uncle mistreated her, so she was mean to Naruto before coming to her senses. It hadn't exactly been a flattering synopsis for Sakura, but she had refused to allow anyone to fill in the blanks as her own way of atoning for her cruelty to Naruto. Of course, it hadn't worked very well with Fu being almost as forgiving as Naruto and neither Haku nor Zabuza knowing them well enough to care, but Sakura felt it was the thought that counted.

"This is ridiculous! I have done nothing wrong! Sakura, tell them!" Kisuke demanded, trying his best to glare Sakura into obedience. Sakura shuddered and took a step back, remembering how many times that glare had forced her back in line when she started to stray from her Uncle's wishes. But this wasn't like those times! She had Team 7 by her side now, and the one she loved had finally returned her feelings! She wasn't going to be bullied into obedience any more!

"Everything in those files is the truth." She said, staring into her Uncle's eyes with all of her bravery. "My Uncle wanted a piece of the Uchiha's power, and when he saw that I had feelings for Sasuke, he pushed me into throwing myself at him, while doing everything he could to make me hate Naruto, whom he blames for the Uchiha's loss of power. Every time I tried to stray from his ideals, he would beat me or belittle me back into line. Before leaving on the Waterfall Mission, I questioned him and he threatened to sell me to a brothel if I haven't become pregnant with Sasuke's child by the end of the year."

Kisuke went red with fury. "LYING BITCH!" he roared, before moving to charge at the girl, but before the ANBU or even the Stand's seals could go into action, a thin red line appeared on his cheek and a Kunai hit the wall just to the right of his face.

"Be careful who you insult, you filth." Sasuke said coldly, his voice overcome with a hatred he hadn't felt since Shisui. "Sakura is not a liar, you are. And do you want to know the irony of this whole thing? I'd have started a relationship with her even earlier if you hadn't indoctrinated her into hating Naruto. If you had just sit back and loved her like any true family would, you'd have gotten exactly what you wanted. But you got greedy and now you'll pay for hurting one of my precious people!"

Kisuke Haruno recoiled, his face draining of colour. Desperately, he looked to his fellow councillors, but all had cold expressions. The Clan Heads were furious, the Jonin were disgusted and even the Civilians, whom had always been on Jonin Haruno's side, looked at him like he was a monster. "Damn it! Are you all blind!? Can't you see this is the work of the Nine Tails!? That Demon Brat has sunk his claws into all of them, the whole Waterfall Mission Team! As soon as we let him leave the village with them, they all come back talking nonsense!"

"Silence, you cretin." Inoichi Yamanaka said, standing up. "Naruto doesn't possess any kind of mental manipulation abilities, and even if he did, Inonada's Mind Walk would have exposed it. There was no alteration to Sakura's memories of any kind, and all the evidence has already damned you. Don't disgrace yourself further by blaming Naruto."

The disgraced Jonin went silent as he desperately tried to find a way out of the situation, but it was futile. The Hokage turned to the man and frowned, "Do you have anything of value to say in your defence?" he asked.

Kisuke could do nothing but splutter out a garbled mess of excuses, which only served to further annoy the aging Hokage. "Well then, if there is nothing left to be said, I will begin the verdict; all whom find the defendant guilty, raise your hands."

Everybody in the room raised their hands, with even those not actually eligible to vote, such as Guards and Team 7, adding their own votes (not that they were counted, it was the principle of the thing.) The Hokage nodded, "With a unanimous result, I declare Kisuke Haruno guilty of all his crimes. He is hereby stripped of his rank and position within the Hidden Leaf Council and Ninja forces and sentenced to a minimum of twenty years in prison. He is also forbidden of initiating any form of contact with Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha or Naruto Uzumaki for the remainder of his life. Failure to comply with this will result in further prison time. In addition, all property and accounts in his name are to be transferred to Sakura Haruno. Guards, take him away."

The ANBU placed Kisuke in chains and began to lead him out of the room, with him mumbling the whole time in disbelief. "This can't be happening...this has to be a mistake!"

Naruto scowled, "The only mistake here is that you weren't locked up earlier!"

In an instant, Kisuke forgot where he was and turned to look at Naruto. The Fox Boy stood there, free and defiant, with Kisuke's niece at his side and the Uchiha heir on the other. And he was daring to further disgrace the former Jonin. In an explosion of rage, Kisuke pulled against the chains and lunged at Naruto. "DIE YOU DEMON BRAT!" he roared.

Without missing a beat, Naruto reared back his fist and shot it forward, punching Kisuke hard with all of his anger and hatred powering his fist. The blow smacked into Kisuke with a sickening crunch, as the man's nose and jaw shattered against the Uzumaki's strength, causing blood and broken teeth to fall to the floor. Kisuke crumpled to the ground, unconscious, and was dragged away by the ANBU, whom signalled a brief apology to Naruto for not catching him themselves. Naruto sighed and looked down at his blood splattered fist and the bloody mess his punch had left on the floor, and to his own shame, he felt satisfaction.

"Is it normal for that to have felt so good?" he asked.

"Hey, after what I've just learned, I'm surprised you didn't kill him." Fu said, offering a handkerchief for Naruto to clean his knuckles.

"And let's be honest, I think we all wanted to punch him. That prick reminds me of the stuck-up Jonin that were on Yagura's council." Zabuza added. Most of the other people in the room, including Hiruzen and Danzo, nodded in agreement and for once, the Civilians didn't go crazy over Naruto's actions as they too begrudgingly agreed with the boy.

"Well then, with everything on the agenda complete, I declare this Council Meeting at an end. Everybody is dismissed." The Hokage said. The Councillors began to file out and eventually, only the Waterfall Mission Team, Fu, Zabuza, Haku, the Hokage, Danzo, Itachi, Hinata and Hiashi remained in the room, hoping to talk without the Councillors butting in.

Sarutobi and Itachi turned to Naruto and Sasuke and bowed their heads, "We must apologise to you both for surprising you with the CRA. We fought against it, but as was mentioned before, the Daimyo overruled us."

Hiashi nodded, "I must also apologise to you, Hinata. I didn't know how to tell you, and I had hoped we'd find another way, but I was too late… I truly wish it hadn't come to this, especially with what happened with the Elders."

There was some questioning looks, so Hiashi explained everything that had happened with the Hyuga Council, as well as the Elder's death at Hinata's hand. That had been the part that surprised them all, as while Hinata wasn't viewed to be feeble or cowardly, she was kind and merciful and her attitude towards killing was not much different from Naruto's.

"I'm surprised, Hinata. I didn't think you'd do that, I'm sorry you had to do it." Sasuke commented. He was the least against killing on Team 7 (aside from Sai and the Senseis) as long as the death was justified.

"I-I didn't want to… but he chose to die and he asked me to do it. If I hadn't, I'd have disrespected his last wish and disgraced myself in front of the Hyuga Council. It would have meant all my words were empty… Still, it hurts." Hinata said quietly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she clutched at her chest. Naruto held her close and Fu took her other hand.

"Hey now, you did the right thing! I know it won't make you feel better, but try to keep that in mind." Fu smiled, "And if you need to talk, you've got me at all hours! Perks of being my roommate!"

"That reminds me, we should get home and finish converting Hinata's room. My wife is also preparing dinner for us." Hiashi said.

Hinata smiled and nodded, happily walking with Fu and Naruto as they said their goodbyes and headed home. Hiruzen and Danzo left soon after, with Sai, the Team 7 Senseis and the Protection Team in tow, to discuss the potential meaning behind Kushimaru's Curse Mark, leaving only the Uchihas, Sakura and the Momochis in the chamber.

Itachi took this chance to speak with his little brother's future brides, as well as his future father-in-law. "Well, with everything that has happened, I'm sure the three of you will need places to stay. The Uchiha Compound is vast and empty, so we'd be happy to accommodate all three of you."

"We'd appreciate that. You were pretty legendary as a prodigy back in Mist; it'll be good to see you in action." Zabuza grinned. Itachi returned the grin and shook the man's hand.

"Thank you for taking me in, Itachi." Sakura smiled, blushing a bit. She had always found the older Uchiha handsome, even though it was Sasuke whom she preferred.

"I wish to thank you as well, future Brother-in-law." Haku laughed.

"You are both welcome, though Haku raises a point..." Itachi made a show of thinking about something before flashing a grin at both girls, "If I'm going to be your brother-in-law, you'll need to call me Itachi-nii-san, just like Sasuke does."

The girls laughed and Sasuke gave his brother a playful punch, before they too began to leave. Once they had arrived at the Uchiha Compound, Sakura pulled Haku to one side.

"Um, Haku? I need to ask you something, and it's kind of personal..." Sakura mumbled, her cheeks turning red.

"Go ahead, Sakura. I may not answer, but I'll at least listen." Haku replied.

"Do...Do you love Sasuke-kun? How do you really feel about him?"

Haku smiled. Sakura had appeared fairly strong and confident in the short time Haku had known her, but seeing the pink-haired girl nervously twiddling her fingers, biting her lip and staring embarrassed at the ground made her seem more cute and endearing, which Haku had a secret soft spot for. The Ice User was tempted to tease the girl, but after the business with her Uncle, Haku felt she had earned a break.

"Honestly? From what I've seen; Sasuke is fairly handsome with an agreeable personality. He appears to be professional in his career and quite skilled, on top of being from a wealthy clan and having a strong connection to potentially the strongest living being in the village. As Marriage Material, I couldn't really ask for more." Haku said frankly. Sakura looked a little disheartened, but Haku continued, "Still, we barely know one another. He claimed me as a wife out of a sense of justice, not love, so it still remains to be seen how far our relationship will go. Though I'll admit to being jealous of you, Sakura."

"Jealous of me? Why?" Sakura asked.

Haku smiled and petted the younger girl's head. "You hold a special place in Sasuke's heart. Even if we come to love each other, I doubt he'll love anyone quite as much as you, even if he himself doesn't realise it."

Sakura went crimson, but hugged Haku all the same. "Thanks, Haku. We may not have started off on the best foot, but I think you're a great friend. And for the record, you have my support with Sasuke. I'd rather he choose you as a fellow wife than some of the vapid bimbos that throw themselves at him."

Haku laughed and Sakura joined her, before the two girls headed to their new home, happily walking arm in arm.

 **[Some time later, at the Hyuga Compound]**

After Fu had been welcomed into the Hyuga Household by Hiashi's family and a small number of the Elders, she had helped Hinata and Hanabi (whom had loved Fu's odd coloured hair) to redecorate Hinata's room so it could comfortably hold two people and then unpacked her few possessions. She didn't have much in the way of clothing or other supplies, so Hinata promised they'd go shopping together and meet the other girl their age; Ino. Afterwards, Hinata's mother prepared a huge dinner for them and it was a welcome treat, as Naruto proclaimed Hikari's food to be "as good as Ichiraku!" (the highest praise Naruto had) and Fu said it was the best food she'd ever had. Hiashi made it clear to Fu that he and his wife and daughters knew the truth about her being a Jinchuriki, but that her secret was safe with them and she would be treated kindly, which Fu was grateful for.

Finally, when evening came and everyone began to slip off to bed, Hinata and Fu retired to their room for a late night talk.

"Your family is a lot of fun! They're nothing like the Hyuga Clan we heard about in Waterfall." Fu laughed as she flopped backward on to her new bed.

"Father is fairly strict, but he's still a good man. He started treating us even better after the incident with the Cloud when I was three. I think he was scared to lose us." Hinata replied, hugging a fox plushy. Fu eyed the toy for a moment before erupting into giggles.

"You really love Naruto, don't you." Fu smiled.

Hinata nodded, "Of course. And I'm not the only one, right Fu?"

The Jinchuriki blushed and buried her face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." Hinata said sarcastically. "Look Fu, can I give you some advice? If you love Naruto like I know you do, then go for it. When I was younger, I used be extremely shy. I'd stutter and hide behind people and a lot of the time, the only way I could be with Naruto was by watching him from a far. It was Naruto that brought me out of that, and he did it without even thinking about it. He just acted, playing with me, supporting me and in the end, loving me. Thanks to that, I was able to build up my confidence and become the person I am today. Naruto taught me to love myself, and that it was okay to love him. He'll love you too, if you let him."

Fu sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what Hinata said. Deep within her mind, Chomei spoke. **"The Hyuga Girl is honest. She understands your love and harbours no resentment. I say go for it. He's my little brother, so I can vouch for his pedigree."** the Seven Tails joked.

"Why are you so willing to let me date your boyfriend? I understand that its because of the CRA, whatever that is, but why me?" Fu asked.

Hinata smiled warmly, "Because I love Naruto deeply, and he deserves somebody who will truly love him. If the CRA is going to force him to have at least five wives, I want each of the other four to love him as much as I do." she explained. "Now, I don't want any playing around. We both know you love Naruto, so there is no point in hiding it. How about we both go and see him right now?"

Fu blushed furiously, but she didn't argue. She didn't trust her own voice and instead allowed Hinata to lead her by the hand to Naruto's bedroom. The Hyuga Heiress gave a quiet knock and moments later, Naruto opened the door, wearing his orange pyjamas with fox night cap. Both Fu and Hinata nearly fainted from the cuteness, which made Naruto laugh.

"Evening, ladies! Did you need something?" he asked.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. Fu here wants to be a part of our relationship." Hinata said. Naruto could be a bit dense when it came to any kind of complexity in relationships, so it was better to be blunt and to the point. Fu and Naruto both stood there, shocked into silence while Hinata suppressed a giggle.

"H-Hinata-chan? Fu-chan? What are you guys talking about? Are you playing a prank on me?" the Fox boy asked, his tails appearing and wrapping themselves around him, which happened whenever Naruto was very nervous.

"S-she's telling the truth." Fu squeaked. "I-I've developed feelings for you, and Hinata said it would be okay if you and I...if we...dated." she said the last word in a whisper, which only Naruto's trained ears could pick up.

His heartbeat quickened and he felt himself sweating. Fu had said dating, but both he and Hinata knew that with the CRA in effect, it would likely not end at that… Naruto tried desperately to think everything through, to do what Sasuke always told him to do and plan several moves ahead. After a few moments of awkward silence where Fu and Naruto couldn't make eye contact, Naruto sighed and gave up on planning. He had to be straight forward and do what he felt was right!

"Okay. If Hinata-chan approves and you really want to, then I'll happily date you, Fu-chan!" Naruto said with a smile. Fu immediately lit up and Hinata smiled too, making Naruto happy, _"Just like I thought! Simple is best! Leave the complicated stuff to Sasuke!"_ he thought. The smiles of the two girls in front of him warmed him and to be honest, he couldn't say he was unhappy with the idea of dating Fu. She was attractive, nice and a skilled Kunoichi, and she didn't hate Tailed Beasts!

Naruto, Fu and Hinata ended up staying awake for a while after that, chatting and getting to know each other, and for one night at least, their worries about the Mysterious Akatsuki melted from their minds, and all was well.

 **[Elsewhere…]**

Deep with in a cave, only a few miles from the Ryuchi Execution Grounds, ten figures stood in a circle, the thin light of the moon shining through them as if they were ghosts. Their shapes waved and distorted like a desert mirage, and their voices carried a ghoulish echo.

"Our agent, Kushimaru Kuriarare is dead, and the Seven Tails Jinchuriki is now in the hands of the Hidden Leaf. We have also lost three valuable pawns in the form of Zabuza Momochi, Haku Yuki and Ameyuri Ringo." one of the figures reported.

"So, the Leaf managed to take that tall freak down, hmm? Impressive." a pony-tailed figure said.

"It was actually the Nine Tails himself that defeated him, using a rare Yang Style Jutsu of the First Hokage. Kushimaru was killed by myself, when he told them of our organisation." the first person added, though his voice was different this time.

"It is of no consequence. Our name alone will not be enough for the Leaf to find us. However, we are lucky that the Cursed Seal was destroyed by the Nine Tails' jutsu, before the Leaf could discover its secrets. Orochimaru." a man with strange eyes spoke.

One of the figures stepped forward and bowed his head, "Yes, Leader-sama?" he said, an unnatural hiss following his words.

"The Chunin Exams will be held in the Leaf in two months. Use this time to arrange an attack on the Leaf to gauge their strength. You will have the support of the Hidden Rain, as well as your own Hidden Sound. Everything else is up to your discretion." Leader-sama said. "This meeting is adjourned. We will meet again on the next new moon to report the status of our missions."

And just like that, the cave was empty, with only a single figure left behind. The one named Orochimaru.

"Kukuku, things are getting interesting. To think Team 7 was able to best one of my Cursed Seals… I think I have just the thing for them." he laughed, before he too vanished, leaving behind an empty cavern, bathed in moonlight.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **And it's done! The Fu of Waterfall Arc is officially over! I hope you all enjoyed it! For those wanting a worse fate for Kisuke Haruno, I will say that we aren't done with him yet, so stay tuned!**

 **IMPORTANT STUFF BELOW:**

 **The next Arc will begin on Friday 5th February and it will be the Chunin Exams Arc.**

 **A few chapters back, I put up a poll on whether people wanted two short chapters a week or one long chapter, and I got a fairly mixed response, so this is what's going to happen: I'll write and release the chapters as normal, but if they are shorter, they'll be released on Monday and Friday (so two a week) and if they are long, they'll be released on Wednesday. Most chapters will be shorter (around 4000 words) but if a longer one is coming, I'll let you know at the end of the chapter!**

 **PAIRING STUFF!**

 **It's probably obvious now, but Fu and Haku were the winners of the first slots in Naruto and Sasuke's harems!**

 **Fu got 19 Votes and Haku got 15! Here is the current poll with these two removed.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/Fu/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/Haku/?/?/?**

 **Current Harem Suggestions are:**

 **Naruto: Karin (8 Vote), Temari (14 Vote), Ino (4 Votes), Hanabi (6 Vote), Tenten (5 Votes), Yugito (3 Vote), Tayuya (4 Vote), Samui (1 Vote), Kaguya (2 Vote), Konan (5 Vote), Kurotsuchi (7 Votes), Shizune (2 Vote), Mikoto (1 Vote), Kurenai (1 Vote), Mabui (1 Vote), Koyuki (1 Vote) and Anko (8 Votes)**

 **Sasuke: Ino (11 Votes), Karin (11 Vote), Kin (6 Vote), Tayuya (1 Vote), Tenten (7 Vote), Samui (3 Vote), Karui (1 Vote), Kurotsuchi (1 Vote) and Anko (4 Votes)**


	26. Chunin Exams: Chapter 1

**AN:**

And now we'll be beginning the fourth Arc of Nine Tails Incarnate, and likely the longest one of the Pre-Timeskip story.

Remember, normal chapters will be released twice a week on Mondays and Fridays while Long Chapters will only be released once a week on a Wednesday.

Also, votes for the third slot in Naruto and Sasuke's Harems will remain open for the foreseeable future.

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 1: THE ROAD TO CHUNIN**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _The Chunin Exams will be held in the Leaf in two months. Use this time to arrange an attack on the Leaf to gauge their strength. You will have the support of the Hidden Rain, as well as your own Hidden Sound. Everything else is up to your discretion." Leader-sama said. "This meeting is adjourned. We will meet again on the next new moon to report the status of our missions."_

 _And just like that, the cave was empty, with only a single figure left behind. The one named Orochimaru._

" _Kukuku, things are getting interesting. To think Team 7 was able to best one of my Cursed Seals… I think I have just the thing for them." he laughed, before he too vanished, leaving behind an empty cavern, bathed in moonlight._

 **XOXOXOX**

Two months passed since the Waterfall Mission came to an end and in that time the Hidden Leaf Village had changed little. However, many new constructions had begun and sped to completion at an alarming rate, including three huge towers, a smaller version of the Village Arena and even several facilities in the woods outside the Village. Only the higher-ups of the village knew what these were for, and they were tight-lipped about it.

For the ninja themselves, many changes occurred within their ranks. Following their evaluations at the Academy, Zabuza had been assigned to the Reformed Military Police, and was the only one of Chunin rank in the group, though this was because of Itachi pulling some strings to have the powerful ninja placed in his division. Haku and Fu had both been assigned to the ANBU Hunter Division, due to Haku's experience masquerading as a Hunter-Nin and Fu's ability to manipulate insects, much like the Aburame. With there now being enough Genin to form only teams of three, Sai was reassigned to the new Team 12, along with Fu and Haku. Their Sensei was Anko Mitarashi, whom after her help in the fight with Ameyuri was recommended by Kakashi for Jonin Promotion, which was granted by the Hokage as a Field Promotion. Not only that, but about a month after the mission, the Leaf had received a message from the Rebellion in the Land of Water, letting them know that Ameyuri had arrived and after some very lengthy interrogations and negotiations, was enlisted as a common ninja in the Rebellion. She couldn't take missions alone and couldn't send messages without the approval of the Rebel Leader, but at least her life was spared and she was able to help. Zabuza was told that while his crimes would be forgiven, he would never again be allowed to wear the Mist Headband or be considered a member of the village. It had saddened him, but Zabuza was a tough man and took it in his stride.

Team 7 and Team 12 regularly trained together and were frequently sent on C-Rank missions together. In just the two months since its formation, Team 12 had completed almost 30 C-Rank Missions alongside Team 7 and the two teams had even managed to go a couple of B-Ranks, which they found surprisingly relaxing after the taxing battle with Kushimaru.

Not everything had been great though, as the CRA still hung over Naruto and Sasuke. The two boys were both devoted to their girlfriends and neither boy was interested in scouting out other future wives. Girls, both Ninja and Civilian and some even far older than them, had asked them out, but it was always because of power, wealth or simply because they found the boys attractive, and not because of real love, so Hinata, Fu and Sakura had rejected them all, leading their future husbands to politely decline as well. Only Haku had kept out of the affair, claiming that Sakura should have the first and last say, so Haku wouldn't even consider a girl that Sakura hadn't approved of.

The actual relationships of Naruto, Hinata and Fu, as well as Sasuke, Sakura and Haku had progressed fairly well. Naruto had taken both Hinata and Fu on dates whenever they had free evenings and had become even closer with both. He found that Hinata preferred a more quiet and reserved kind of a date, like picnics, as she simply loved to be with Naruto and enjoy each other's company, while Fu preferred fun and exciting activities like going to any nearby festivals or dancing at one of the popular Shinobi Clubs in the village. The two had actually made a name for themselves for how wild and energetic they were when dancing. Sasuke's lovers were much more alike than Naruto's, but Sasuke was a stickler for details and quickly spotted the differences. Sakura loved romantic dates, the sort you'd rip out of a romance novel, filled with flowers and sweet words. She also loved to be pampered, but considering her rough past and the fact she spends a lot of time taking care of others in her Medical Training, Sasuke understood and was happy to oblige. At first glance, Haku was similar, but for her it was more about going on the kind of date she felt was normal for a girl her age. Haku was a great ninja, but because she had been forced to fight since she was so young and had little down time, she was keen to experience what normal girls her age did. Sasuke's willingness to cater to this desire had made Haku's feelings for him grow from a simple, mutual attraction to something akin to love, and it was only growing stronger.

And relationships weren't all that was getting stronger.

Team 7 and Team 12 had been training their skills hard, and the other Leaf Teams had sped up their own training out of a desire to keep up with them. Naruto improved his Chain Control, to the point he could move them as easily as his tails, and his Scorch Style had come along to the point he could use a few B-A Rank jutsu! He'd even been able to learn the basic jutsu for each of the basic Elemental Natures and improved his success rate with the Yang Style: Nine Pillars of Heaven to 75%. Sakura improved her Medical Jutsu and her Taijutsu to the point that she could break a bone with a single punch and then heal it in a moment, and she'd improved her skill with her twin swords by training with Sasuke. Sasuke further mastered the Lightning Style and begun to more heavily use it with his sword and ninja tools, while training his Sharingan to the point that he developed a third Tomoe in each eye. Fu practised her insect control with help from the Aburame Clan, and even adopted their weapon style of mini hidden crossbows, though she used four; two hidden under her wristbands and two hidden in the soles of her sandals. Haku's skills were refined to combine Genjutsu with her mirrors, as well as practising kenjutsu with Sasuke and her father, using a Standard-Issue Katana, similar to the ones wielded by Hayate and Yugao.

Everything had been going well and despite their busy schedule of training and missions, Team 7 and Team 12 found themselves eager for the next bit of excitement. They would not be waiting long.

The two teams were just finishing up their morning training in Training Ground 7 under Yamato's supervision when Kakashi and Anko came waltzing back into the training ground from some sort of meeting with the Hokage.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, what's with the weird look? You been bragging about us to Guy-Sensei again?" Naruto asked cheekily.

"No no, if I did that any more, he'd just get depressed." Kakashi joked, "Anko and I actually have some news we wanted to share."

"What kind of news?" Fu asked. She had learned quickly that when it came to Anko, surprises were usually unpleasant…

"Well, we were just thinking about the Chunin Exams which are starting next week, and were wondering if we should sign you guys up." the Snake Mistress grinned.

Team 7 immediately lit up with excited expressions, while Team 12 looked a little unsure. "Both teams, Anko-sensei?" Haku asked.

"Yep! I'm kind of on the fence about it. On the one hand, being a Sensei is a lot of work… but on the other hand, I only just got you guys! I wanted to play with- I mean train you longer!"

Fu and Haku both backed off and hid behind Sai, whom was all but immune to Anko's teasing. It was one of the few benefits to being emotionally stunted… "So, do you feel up to it? To be honest, with the battle in the Land of Waterfalls under your belts, I feel that you could have earned a Field Promotion, like Anko did, but the Hokage didn't like the idea of that, especially since you haven't even been Genin for six months. But we won't nominate you for the exams unless you're willing. Remember, the Exam will be a Team Exam for most of it, so all three members of the team must accept it."

"I'm in!" Naruto declared.

"Me too. I'm interested in going up against foreign ninja again." Sasuke added.

"I'll participate as well. I want to see how much stronger I've gotten." Sakura said.

Kakashi smiled and nodded. "Great, then I'll nominate Team 7 for the Chunin Exams. The Exam will start Monday, so make sure you finish anything you need to do before then. Once it starts, there's no backing out."

Anko watched Kakashi and Team 7 for a moment before turning back to her own Genin. "So, how about it brats?"

"I am an ANBU, so promotion means nothing to me. I will accept if Haku and Fu do." Sai said in a monotone.

Haku thought about it for a moment before finally shrugging, "I'm used to doing Chunin level work, so I don't feel like I'm getting much from Genin Training. I'll take the Exam."

"Okay, then if everyone else is taking it, I will too! Who knows, maybe I'll make some new friends!" Fu grinned. Fu had already been introduced to the other Rookie Leaf Ninja and had become their friend, but she still made a point of trying to make new friends whenever she could.

"This is great! Team 12 is going to kick ass in the Chunin Exams! Don't any of you three dare hold back, or I'll have you doing my special training camp until the next exam!" Anko said, grinning madly as she gave her threat. Fu shuddered, and even Haku and Sai felt themselves sweat a bit at the threat. Another one of the lessons they'd learnt under their new sensei; Anko Mitarashi did not make empty threats!

"Anko and I will officially nominate you in the ceremony tonight. I know Guy is entering his team, and I suspect Kurenai and Asuma will be entering theirs' too. But there is something more serious we need to talk about, particularly you, Naruto." Kakashi said, suddenly switching to his serious persona.

Naruto frowned and snapped to attention like he always did when things got serious, while the other Genin looked worried. Yamato sighed, "Is this about those rumours?" the wood user asked.

"Rumours?" Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded. "Ever since the Waterfall Mission, several rumours have been spreading around amongst Ninja, Civilians and Nobles alike. These rumours talk about a Tailed Beast that can switch between the form of a Human Child and a Golden Fox and depending on who you ask, this being is either said to be a Benevolent Spirit, or a Malicious Demon. The Rumours vary based on location; in the Land of Earth, the rumour claims the being is related to the Yellow Flash while in the Land of Lightning, the being is a God of War that punishes evil ninja by stealing their power. With the information we have gathered, it is clear that the rumours talk about you, Naruto, and more worryingly, people in high places are starting to take notice."

"The rumours probably started because of some loose-lipped ninja in the Land of Waterfalls." Sakura frowned.

"I'm not so sure Sakura-chan." Sasuke commented, "A lot of the details in these rumours don't match what we reported to Shibuki and his ninja. They might have been started by the enemy, to hide their tracks. After all, we know they're pursuing Naruto, so they might be stirring up other forces to hide their movements."

Kakashi nodded. "Your brother; Itachi, said the same thing. Regardless, with the Chunin Exams being held in the Leaf this year, there will be a lot of foreign Ninja about. Keep your wits about you."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. They won't risk killing me, and since I'll come back when I die, I have an advantage." Naruto said.

"That's true, but remember Naruto, there are worse things in this world than dying." Kakashi said, before returning to his more casual persona. "Now, you're all dismissed for the rest of the day. Training won't resume until after the Chunin Exams, so take some time to relax."

With that said, Kakashi vanished in a flicker and Yamato and Anko left shortly after, leaving the six Genin to talk amongst themselves. Sakura left not long after to gather medical supplies from the hospital, while Haku went with her to also get some ingredients for use in her poisons. Sai quietly excused himself to report to his master, leaving just Fu, Naruto and Sasuke talking in the Training Ground.

"I wonder what's going to be in the exam. Will it be like the Evaluation at the Academy?" Fu asked.

"No, the exact nature of the Chunin Exams are always different and are generally kept secret ahead of the event. The only thing that's public knowledge is that there will be three parts which will judge intelligence, survival skills and combat prowess." Sasuke explained, remembering the distant past when his father had spoken about the exam with Itachi.

Naruto grimaced, "Survival and Combat I can do, but the Intelligence part? It's going to be a written test isn't it… Aw, I thought I wouldn't need to study any more after leaving the Academy." he sulked.

Fu grinned, "Don't worry Naruto-kun, Hinata and I can help you study."

"Yeah right, if I let you two help him, he won't be able to concentrate at all, will you Lover boy?" Sasuke joked, making Naruto pout and Fu blush. "I'll talk to Itachi about letting you all stay the night at my place so we can prepare for the exams." he said, before walking off to find his brother.

Once the Uchiha was gone, Fu turned to Naruto with a big grin, "You know, all the girls around here talk about how Sasuke is so dark and mysterious, but he seems pretty straight forward to me." Fu said.

"Just ignore those fan-girls. Half of them just want him for his position. The CRA is gonna be rough on him, especially with Sakura and Haku helping to judge the other girls. They'll only accept the best for their Sasuke-kun." Naruto chuckled.

"Well, I can't blame them. Hinata and I aren't going to let anyone sub-par snap up our Naruto-kun either." Fu said, flirtatiously stroking Naruto's whiskered cheek. The Fox Boy blushed a bit and leaned into the touch, making Fu smile. "Okay, that's enough for now. If you like, I'll brush your tails for you later. But for now, I've got to go. I promised Shino that I'd lead him to that hive I saw the other day."

"Okay, I'll see you later." Naruto said, giving Fu a peck on the cheek before relaxing in the grass and watching the mint-haired girl run off. He lay like that for a while, watching the clouds go by and enjoying the sounds and smells of nature. Most of the village, even those that knew Naruto well, thought of him as a hyperactive knuckle-head, and while that was certainly true, there were times he loved to just sit and be in nature. _"Must be the Tailed Beast Blood."_ Naruto thought as he started to doze.

 **[In the Hokage's Office]**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, looking at the gathered Jonin Senseis in front of him. Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, his own son; Asuma Sarutobi as well as Anko Mitarashi and many others stood awaiting the beginning of the Chunin Exam Nomination Ceremony. The Ceremony itself was nothing more than a formality; a way for the Senseis to announce to their peers and the Hokage whether or not they are entering their teams before handing in the necessary paperwork. It also served as a way for the Academy Teachers, whom were also in attendance, to give their own says on the matter, though they had no power to change which teams were nominated outside of their own powers of persuasion.

"Let us begin." The Hokage said, unrolling a scroll of parchment and preparing an Ink Brush. "All those putting forth nominations may now speak."

"I, Kakashi Hatake, nominate Genin Team 7; consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, for the Chunin Exams."

"I, Kurenai Yuhi, nominate Genin Team 8; consisting of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, for the Chunin Exams."

"I, the Noble Green Beast Might Guy, nominate Genin Team 9; consisting of Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga and the youthful Tenten, for the Chunin Exams!"

"I, Asuma Sarutobi, nominate Genin Team 10; consisting of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, for the Chunin Exams."

"I, Anko Mitarashi, nominate Genin Team 12; consisting of Sai, Fu and Haku Momochi, for the Chunin Exams."

The Hokage dutifully wrote down the names of the nominations, making only mild reactions to each as many of the older Genin Teams were also nominated. Only three or four teams, including Team 6 from the current Rookie Generation, were not nominated.

"If the nominations are complete, then I shall move on. We have 90 participants this year...that means 30 teams from the leaf will be entered." Hiruzen stated.

"I must protest, Hokage-sama." Iruka began, stepping forward. "Many of those nominated have only been Genin for a few months. The Exams have the potential to be lethal; surely we cannot send our fresh Genin out so soon."

Kakashi shook his head, "Iruka, they are no longer children. Once they wear the Headband of the Leaf, they are Ninja. You of all people should know that this year's Genin are particularly skilled. It has been a long time since the Academy produced so many skilled Ninja in a single year."

Iruka sighed a bit, as he knew that there was nothing he could say to change Kakashi's mind. Team 7's rapid progress had lead to the progress of the other teams, and truth be told, many were probably ready to become Chunin…

"I would have liked for them to have more experience, but I suppose there is nothing I can do. At least I know they will be relatively safe with Naruto in their group." Iruka said. As long as their Immortal Tailed Beast was around, the Genin would be safe...for the most part.

"That brings me to another point." Hiruzen said, drawing attention back to him. "For the first time in many years, we will be receiving teams from not only the Sand, Waterfall, Rain and Grass Villages, but also from Stone, Cloud and Sound."

Immediately, the Jonin were on guard. Kakashi exchanged a look with Anko, both of them knowing that these villages were sending teams to investigate the Rumours… Hiruzen sensed their thoughts and nodded, "It is going to be a dangerous time for the Leaf. It is likely that the Raikage and even the Tsuchikage will be coming to the final event, along with the Kazekage. Not only that, but there are reports that the Sound Village has connections with Orochimaru. So I will say this to you all; be on your guard. We cannot allow anything to go wrong, or else a war may break out."

The Jonin looked amongst themselves and nodded grimly.

 **[Back with Naruto]**

A short time later, Naruto's Fox Ears perked up as he heard somebody approach. _"One, two, three...Four pairs of feet. Three small and one slightly larger. Two male, two female."_ he thought to himself, practising his identification skills. As they got closer, their scents were carried to Naruto by the breeze and he smiled.

"Hey Hinata-chan. Hanging out with Konohamaru today?" Naruto asked with a smile as he sat up and turned to see his lover standing there, with three Academy Students behind her. These students were Konohamaru Sarutobi, and his friends Udon and Moegi. Naruto had met Konohamaru a while back and the two had become fast friends due to their similar personalities and their mutual disinterest for the other's titles. Konohamaru didn't care that Naruto was the Nine Tails and Naruto didn't care that Konohamaru was the "Honoured Grandson" and they quickly formed a brotherly bond. The Hokage had nearly had a heart attack after their first wave of pranks…

"Hiya Boss! What are you doing?" the boy asked, running forward. Naruto smirked and tripped him with his tail.

"Still not watching your feet, eh?" Naruto joked as Konohamaru laughed from where he fell.

Hinata giggled. "These three have been following me since this morning. They keep calling me "Boss's Wife!" she said with a grin.

Naruto laughed. "Ha, give it a few years! We're only thirteen. So Konohamaru, who are these two?" he asked, pointing to Udon and Moegi.

"Oh these guys? They're the grandkids of those two elders. We made friends at the Academy!" the Sarutobi Boy said.

The two children bowed politely, but Naruto waved them off. "Come on, you can be natural with me. I hate that formal junk."

The two kids looked at each other before grinning and bursting into their own colourful introductions.

"I'm Moegi, and I'm the cutest girl in the Academy!" Moegi smiled.

"And I'm Udon, I like Math!" Udon added.

"And together..." Konohamaru jumped in, "WE ARE THE KONOHAMARU CORPS!"

Naruto and Hinata burst into laughter as their introduction was capped off by some exploding smoke bombs, which had been made too strong and left the three kids coughing and wheezing. "These children really are something, aren't they Naruto-kun?" Hinata smiled.

"Heh, yeah. Just make sure Hanabi-chan doesn't see them, or she'll whip them into her Hanabi Corps before the day is out!" Naruto joked.

"Hey Boss, wanna play Ninja with us?" Konohamaru asked, offering some cardboard shuriken, "Your wife can play too!"

Naruto and Hinata laughed, but accepted the fake shuriken. "Okay then, how about Hinata and I chase you and you've got to escape. If you can reach the top of the Hokage Monument before we catch you, you win." Naruto suggested.

"Alright! You're on!" the boy grinned, before he and his two classmates ran off as fast as they could towards the village and the monument. Once they were out of sight, Hinata turned to Naruto.

"So, should we pursue them for real, or go easy on them?" she asked with a coy smile.

Naruto smirked, "All out! Lets show Konohamaru's friends why he calls me boss!"

The two Genin laughed and promptly chased after the kids, each taking only three of the cardboard shuriken. The Genin were much faster with much greater stamina than the students, so it didn't take long for Naruto and Hinata to catch up. Each time they tried to split off, Hinata would easily corral them back into place and would occasionally catch up enough to poke them before backing off again to continue the game. This continued for a while, with Naruto and Hinata purposely teasing the kids a bit, letting them think they had the edge before immediately closing the distance to pull faces at them or graze them with the fake shuriken.

By the time the kids were in the village proper and getting close to the monument, Naruto and Hinata prepared to end the game with a single throw, but the game screeched to a halt when there was a loud crash, a childish cry of surprise and an angry curse. Naruto turned the corner into an alley and saw Konohamaru had crashed into another person. This person was taller than Naruto and was almost completely covered by a baggy black body suit, with a strange hood and purple war paint on his face.

Naruto was about to urge Konohamaru to apologise when he noticed a headband on the boy. "A Sand Ninja!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **And first chapter is done! Not very eventful and a little short, but I'm still getting back into the grove of writing after my break! Next chapter will introduce some of the other competitors in the exams, including new ones unique to this story!**


	27. Chunin Exams: Chapter 2

**AN:**

This chapter will introduce some of the other participants for the Chunin Exams, including a few fan favourites.

There are two OC's in this chapter, with a third appearing in later chapters. These OC's were created by three readers and friends of mine. I won't give their identities here, to avoid spoilers, so please read the ending AN to know the creators of those characters!

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 2: RIVALS AND RENEGADES**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _The two Genin laughed and promptly chased after the kids, each taking only three of the cardboard shuriken. The Genin were much faster with much greater stamina than the students, so it didn't take long for Naruto and Hinata to catch up. Each time they tried to split off, Hinata would easily corral them back into place and would occasionally catch up enough to poke them before backing off again to continue the game. This continued for a while, with Naruto and Hinata purposely teasing the kids a bit, letting them think they had the edge before immediately closing the distance to pull faces at them or graze them with the fake shuriken._

 _By the time the kids were in the village proper and getting close to the monument, Naruto and Hinata prepared to end the game with a single throw, but the game screeched to a halt when there was a loud crash, a childish cry of surprise and an angry curse. Naruto turned the corner into an alley and saw Konohamaru had crashed into another person. This person was taller than Naruto and was almost completely covered by a baggy black body suit, with a strange hood and purple war paint on his face._

 _Naruto was about to urge Konohamaru to apologise when he noticed a headband on the boy. "A Sand Ninja!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

The Sand Ninja that Konohamaru had ploughed into looked down at the Academy Student with angry eyes, completely ignoring the other kids and Naruto and Hinata. Growling, he reached down and picked up Konohamaru by the collar of his shirt and hung him in the air like a rag doll as he sneered at him. "You should learn to watch were you're going!" the Sand Ninja said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"Kankuro, stop it. You're going to get us in trouble."

Naruto suddenly noticed another Sand Ninja stood behind the first. This one was a sandy-blonde Kunoichi wearing light purple dress that reached her mid-thighs, with mesh across her shoulders and her headband worn around her neck, similarly to Hinata. On her back, she carried a large black Fan and her hair was tied into four spiky small ponytails.

"Oh come on Temari, so long as _he_ doesn't find out, we're fine!" Kankuro argued.

"Actually, we have something to say about that." Naruto said, stepping between the Sand Ninja and the other Academy Students. "Put down the boy. He'll apologise for running into you, and we can all go our own way."

Temari carefully regarded Naruto and Hinata, whom was pulling Moegi and Udon away, and she was beginning to worry a bit. Both these Leaf Ninja carried themselves with confidence, and it didn't look misplaced either, by Temari's judgement. "Kankuro, you should do what he says. There's no point getting worked up over a little kid."

"Shut up!" Kankuro yelled. "This brat disrespected us and needs to be taught a lesson!"

"Ugh, let me go you creepy cat thing!" Konohamaru yelled, flailing his legs and weakly kicking as Kankuro, which only made the boy angrier. With a growl, Kankuro threw his fist back to punch the boy, but his hand was suddenly caught and tightly squeezed by a very angry Naruto.

"I said; Put. The. Boy. Down." Naruto said slowly, his Feral Form activating and Killing Intent showering the two Sand Ninja. Temari promptly backed away as far as she dared as she tried to gather her lost breath and compose herself, while Kankuro merely froze and began to sweat nervously. His grip on Konohamaru slackened and the boy dropped to the ground before getting up and running to hide with his friends behind Hinata. Naruto gave an intimidating grin before slowly letting go of Kankuro. "There, was that so hard?" he asked, turning back to normal. Once Naruto was completely normal again, he turned to Konohamaru; "Come on, you should apologise. Even if he is a jerk, you did run into him."

Konohamaru gulped, but he didn't want to risk seeing "Scary Mode" Naruto again, so he ran up to Kankuro, yelled a fast apology, then ran back to Hinata, making both Leaf Genin chuckle and shake their heads. "You are both here for the Chunin Exams, right?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, we are." Temari said, calming down, "Sorry about my brother. This is our first time out of the village and he got carried away. My name is Temari."

"That's fine. Just don't go causing fights. My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto introduced, shaking Temari's hand.

"And I am Hinata Hyuga. We will both be in the Exams as well." Hinata smiled.

"Oh? Are you two a team?" the Sand Girl asked.

Hinata shook her head. "No, we are on two separate teams. Though we are dating."

Temari smirked at the faint blush on the two Leaf Ninja, "Hehe, lucky you. Got yourself a handsome guy. You're certainly an interesting one, Naruto. You remind me of my other little brother, at least when you use that weird form."

Naruto's attention was peaked, but before he could question Temari on her other brother, that brother appeared.

"You speak too much, Temari." a raspy voice said from atop a tree that bordered the alley. A red haired boy was now standing there; black rings around his eyes and the kanji for Love calved into his forehead. On his back was a massive gourd, but above all else, he carried the scent of blood, which hung on him so thickly that Naruto almost gagged and had to resist the urge to cover his nose.

"You are the other brother, am I right?" Naruto asked. The Red Head nodded and disappeared in a flurry of sand, before reappearing with his siblings. He glared at Kankuro for a moment before ignoring him completely and approaching Naruto.

"I apologise for my brother's actions. I am Gaara of the Sand." Gaara said, his raspy voice remaining in a monotone.

Naruto shuddered a bit and felt his chakra reacting to the boy. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Gaara gave a creepy grin and began to walk closer, killing intent radiating off him. "You are different… You're strong! Blood...give Mother your blood!" he said, losing his composure and becoming manic as he reached out his hand to Naruto, whom took a step back out of confusion.

" _Something is up with this guy! His Chakra feels like..."_ Naruto thought, before angrily slapping away Gaara's hand. Before Naruto's hand made contact with Gaara's, a strange wave of sand emerged from the Red head's gourd and blocked Naruto's blow, confusing the Blond as he hadn't sensed Gaara preparing to use a jutsu. Suddenly, Naruto gasped and leapt back to stand beside Hinata.

"This guy is a Jinchuriki! His Chakra has the One Tail's mixed in with it!" Naruto said urgently, preparing to fight if need be. He'd heard of some Jinchuriki becoming insane berserkers due to the influence of their trapped beasts, but the Blond had never expected to run into one that looked to be only a little younger than him.

"Fight me! Fight me! Show me what makes you different! I want to know! Prove my existence!" Gaara yelled, grinning maniacally as he prepared to attack Naruto. Temari and Kankuro were behind him, desperately trying to convince their little brother not to fight while not daring to actually approach the boy. Both Gaara's Siblings looked terrified and even urged Naruto to run, but the Fox Boy stood his ground, with Hinata at his side.

"That's enough! Please be calm, Gaara-sama!" came a female voice from behind the group. Naruto turned to see a team of Sand Genin running toward them, lead by a girl with light brown hair which was tied into a ponytail. The girl was fairly tall for a Genin at Five and a half feet and was wearing clothes similar to Temari, though hers were a darker purple and had black skin-tight shorts underneath. She was a muscular but compact girl and had her arms covered in bandage wrappings.

Gaara looked at the girl with the same maniacal grin, "Be gone Toriko, or I'll kill you!"

Toriko shuddered but quickly recovered, "Gaara-sama, remember that we're here for the Chunin Exams. If you fight this boy now, you'll be forbidden from the Exam and won't be able to fight any other strong Ninja! How can you prove your existence if you get disqualified?" she argued, looking a little sick at the idea of Gaara "proving his existence".

Her words seemed to have the desired effect however, and Gaara calmed down, reverting to his calm and monotone look like a switch had been flicked. He gave one last glare to Toriko before turning around and walking away, "We will meet in the Exam, Naruto Uzumaki." the Red Head declared, before vanishing in a flurry of sand.

Temari, Kankuro and Toriko gave a collective sigh before turning back to Naruto. "Sorry for that. Gaara-sama can be difficult to control, especially when he latches on to someone strong." Toriko said, bowing politely to Naruto. Her two teammates stood behind her, wearing identical clothing of black body suits with facial masks that covered their faces and left only yellow eyes exposed. The two were clearly twins, with the only differing feature being which eye was covered by a small plume of grey hair.

Naruto and Hinata eyed the two suspiciously, but ignored them in favour of Toriko. "No problem, thanks for the save. I'd rather not fight a Jinchuriki in the middle of the Village, or things would get messy. Who are you?"

Toriko smiled, "My name is Toriko Asano, though you may call me Tori. My family, the Asano, have been retainers for the Kazekage and his family since the founding of the Sand." she introduced.

"So Gaara, along with Temari and Kankuro are the Kazekage's Children?" Hinata asked.

Temari nodded as she stepped forward. "Yep, though no one is able to control Gaara as effectively as Tori. Not even our father can talk him down like she can."

Tori blushed and giggled nervously at the praise. "Its nothing special! I'm just good at reading people."

"Huh, looks like you've got a tough job with that one." Naruto said, mentally trying to think of a way to get Gaara alone with him and Fu, so they could speak with his beast. "Maybe I can help you out sometime? I've got a… special connection with the Jinchuriki."

Toriko tilted her head questioningly, but didn't press on. "Depending on how the Exams go, I might take you up on that offer. Just don't get yourselves killed. There are a lot of tough Ninja this year." she said, before she and her team left to follow Gaara. Temari and Kankuro left shortly after, with Temari giving her thanks to Naruto for helping to diffuse the situation. Once the Sand Ninja were gone, Naruto and Hinata shared a worried look.

"I think this Chunin Exams is going to be one to remember..." Hinata commented. Naruto nodded in agreement.

 **[With Fu]**

Fu was happily walking along a wooded path alongside one of the walls of the village, returning from the Aburame Clan where she had helped Shino find a hive of rare bees she'd found. She enjoyed the company of the Aburame Clan, whom were the only people she'd met that had shared her interest in insects, and naturally, her understanding of them had lead the Aburame Clan to accept the mint-haired girl into their lives with open arms; a rare privilege even for Leaf Ninja. The girl thought on this as she leisurely walked back to her home with the Hyuga, but her thoughts were brought back to earth by an unpleasantly familiar voice.

"No way, is that the Demon Girl!?" came a male voice from a little ways up the road.

Fu scowled and looked in the direction of voice, before going pale at the sight. There were three Waterfall Genin and their Jonin Sensei standing there looking at her, and not just any three; Daiki, Fumihiro and Noriko, the three that had bullied her most often and most often resorted to violence. Old instincts told Fu to run and hide, but she steeled herself. She was a Leaf Ninja now! This village was her home, and she wouldn't be made to run and hide in her own home!

"So, you three managed to convince Shibuki-nii-san into letting you take the Chunin Exams? That's a shame, I'd hoped I'd never have to see you again." Fu said coldly.

Daiki growled and took a step forward, but Fumihiro just stopped him. "Big talk coming from you, Demon. Not so big before were you, when you were crying at our feet."

Fu frowned but shrugged it off. "Quit the taunting. We aren't in Waterfall any more and I'm not a Waterfall Ninja, so I'll be happy to defend myself and unlike in Waterfall, I won't get in trouble for it. So run along back to whatever sewer you crawled out of, and we can settle this in the Exams."

Fumihiro joined Daiki in growling, and neither boy was willing to let this brazen insult go. Noriko merely regarded the whole situation with cool indifference, not interested in fighting Fu, especially now that she'd fight back. "So, you're in the Exams too? Good! We'll wipe you out now and save ourselves some trouble later!" Daiki declared, drawing a kunai.

Fu sighed and looked to the Jonin Sensei, whom was taking a massive interest in a nearby flower, or at least he was pretending to. Fu knew better than to expect better from a Waterfall Ninja, but she at least thought a Jonin would be smarter. She was about to simply disarm Daiki and Fumihiro and leave, but Daiki decided to stupidly open his mouth again. "We'll kill you, then find that Blond Demon from before and wipe the floor with him, so you can meet in Hell!" he sneered, before running at Fu with Fumihiro at his side.

In an instant, Fu saw red and in a flurry of movement, she knocked the weapons from the two boys hands, tripped them and then threw them to the ground, where they landed on their backs with a loud thud. Fu jumped and landed on the two, a foot firmly planted in the centre of each boy's chest as the girl held kunai to both their necks. "Let me make one thing, very clear." she began in a dangerous tone, "If you even come within ten feet of Naruto, I will cut you in places you do not want to be cut. I will say this one more time; we can settle this in the Exams, and when we do..." she pressed the Kunai in a little, just barely stopping from drawing blood, "I will repay everything you've ever done to me, and then crush you completely."

Daiki and Fumihiro stared up at the girl, terror etched into their faces. Even Noriko and the Jonin Sensei looked afraid, to the point that the Jonin was seriously considering attacking and killing Fu to save his students. Before anything could happen though, Fu regained her usual smile and happily hopped off the boys and walking away, whistling a little as she went.

Once Fu was a short distance away, the girl pressed a hand against her chest to feel her rapid heartbeat, inwardly amazed at how it had felt to put those two in their place. She couldn't wait to crush them in the exams. This wasn't just out of revenge either; they had wronged her, so it was fine to get whatever Justice she could for herself, at least that's what Sasuke always said. Daiki and Fumihiro had always taken a sadistic amount of glee from hurting her, while the others from Waterfall had done it because they thought (misguided as they were) that they were doing the right thing. Even Noriko had only done what she was told...but not those two. No, if someone from Waterfall was going to pay for Fu's suffering, it would be them.

" _Too bad for them that I have Anko Mitarashi for my Sensei!"_ Fu giggled to herself, imagining trying out some of Anko's "lighter" tricks on those Daiki and Fumihiro… Perhaps she could even get Naruto and Sasuke to assist in a prank on them? She'd helped with a couple of Naruto's in the past two months, so she knew he'd be up for it.

Back up the road, the two Waterfall Boys shuddered, feeling like they may have just made the biggest mistake of their lives…

 **[With Sasuke]**

Sasuke frowned to himself as he once again walked down the same central road between the Clan Compounds and the Hokage Tower, grumbling as he went. The Young Uchiha had walked up and down this road several times since leaving the Training Ground, all with the hopes of catching his brother. Itachi was apparently having a busy day, as every time Sasuke reached the Military Police Station, he was told Itachi had gone to the Hokage Tower, and when he arrived at the Tower, Itachi had already left. Sasuke had momentarily considered chasing after Itachi, but he suspected his brother had seen him at some point and was now having a bit of fun messing with him.

The Older Uchiha Brother always had to work and had very little time to spend with his family, so he would often pull silly little pranks or games with Sasuke to keep the younger boy's spirits up. Sasuke didn't really need it, but he appreciated it all the same.

"Honestly… I'd feel better if he took a break once in a while." Sasuke muttered to himself as he decided to take a detour to a small park near the Clan Compounds. As he walked, he suddenly felt a presence behind him, as if he was being followed. Sasuke scowled and kept walking, leading his stalkers to the pond where he had so often trained his Fire Style. He knew this area well, so he'd have an advantage if things got messy.

"Alright, whose following me? If you're after an autograph, ask somebody else." he said, turning to face his followers. To his surprise, there were six people now standing around in front of him, glaring at him or grinning in what they thought was an intimidating manner. None of them looked as scary as Zabuza did, so Sasuke was unaffected. "Who are you? Some kind of travelling Ninja Circus?"

"You're a cocky one. Guess the rumours about the Uchiha Clan were true!" one boy with long spiky black hair said. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he looked at the boy, but he was mostly unimpressed. The Black Haired Boy and the Black Haired Girl beside him were probably the only normal looking ones out of the six, with the others all being masked weirdos, or insane weirdos… The one standing with the black haired pair was covered in bandages and was hunched over with excessively long sleeves covering his hands, while two of the others were covered head to toe in beige coloured clothing with black and white camouflage accessories of varying parts of their bodies. Only their basic body shapes were distinguishable, with one being feminine and the other having strangely thick arms.

The sixth and final member of the group was a Girl, but her appearance was off-putting to say the least, at least to Sasuke… She had black hair tied into two small pig tails and big green eyes. She was dressed in a beige, short sleeved hoodie and Black and White Camouflage shorts and she had a large X-shaped Scar on each cheek, but none of that was why she was off-putting. Her face was disturbingly close to Naruto's. Sasuke almost thought it was him in disguise for a moment, but her facial structure was a bit different, however the similarities were uncanny.

Sasuke frowned and studied their headbands, seeing them decorated with a Musical Note. "I've never seen that symbol before. What Village are you from?"

"We are from the Hidden Sound Village. My name is Dosu, and those two are my teammates Kin and Zaku. We're here to deliver a friendly warning to you, Uchiha." the Mummy man said, stepping forward and gesturing towards the Black Haired duo behind him.

"Oh, and what warning would that be?" Sasuke frowned.

"We of the Sound will be dominating this Exam. If you and your teammates don't want to get hurt… I suggest you drop out." Dosu said, the crease of his bandages showing his smile.

"Funny, that "friendly warning" sounded more like a threat to me. Sorry, but you'll need to do better than that, Sound Ninja. My girlfriends are scarier than you are." Sasuke mocked, walking away from the six ninja.

"Girlfriends eh? Well, I certainly hope nothing bad happens to them in the Exam… or before hand." Zaku sneered.

Sasuke paused for a moment, anger boiling up within him at the brazen threat, but he quickly cooled down again and began to chuckle darkly. "Do you expect me to tell you to stay away from them? Well I won't. Go ahead and try to mess with them; one can freeze you down to the bone marrow and the other can turn you inside out and surgically attach your foot to your head. Don't bother with the empty threats; we Leaf Ninja aren't weak enough to fall to a bunch of stooges like you."

Zaku growled and was about to lunge at Sasuke, but the strange pig-tailed girl suddenly smacked him into the ground, moving faster than Sasuke could see. The Uchiha blinked as the girl glared down at her supposed comrade, an expression of disgust on her face. "Don't act up, you trash." she spat. Sasuke blinked again, surprised that such a cute sounding voice was spouting such hateful words.

"Not a fan of Camaraderie, are you?" Sasuke said dryly as he watched Zaku pick himself up off the floor. It was clear by the fear on Dosu and Kin's faces that this other girl was a higher level than them, and their outright refusal to even glance in the general direction of the masked duo made it look like they were even higher up.

The pig-tailed girl looked to Sasuke and regarded him for a few minutes, before smiling. Not a creepy grin or demented sneer like he'd expected, but a genuine smile. "You are...Sasuke-kun, correct? You're on the same level as me! I can't wait to fight you in the exam! My name is Shina, no last name."

Sasuke sighed. He knew he wasn't the best at understanding others, particularly girls, but this girl was...how would Shikamaru put it? Troublesome. "Well, Shina, why did you just put a dent in the floor with your friend's face?"

Shina snorted and burst into a fit of giggles, "Him? My friend? Ha! Why don't I just make friends with an earthworm while I'm at it!" she said, putting her foot on Zaku's back to prove a point. "The weak are filth, the strong are masters. Only someone on the same level can be a friend...and when you surpass them, they become filth too."

The two masked Ninja nodded in agreement and Dosu and Zaku reluctantly nodded too. Kin frowned and hugged herself, a clear sign to Sasuke that she was the weakest of the six, and likely the one tasked with any grunt work. Hierarchies based on power weren't unusual in the Academy or Genin Teams, with it even spreading into the higher ranks at a limited level, but Shina's view was a warped extreme. Sasuke scowled and turned to leave; "I don't know much about the Sound, but if everyone there thinks like you, then its a place doomed to fall. My Clan used to think of themselves as the strongest and the best, but then they died in a single night to a single man. The same will happen to you." he said, before walking away. He spared himself only a single look back at the girl that had disturbed him so deeply, and almost felt his heart skip.

On the back of her neck, just barely concealed by her headband, was what looked like a strange black tattoo. It was small and consisted of three ellipses in a circle. Sasuke did a double take, but by then, the tattoo was hidden away and the Sound Ninja were walking off, muttering quietly amongst themselves.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Sasuke said, before going back to look for his brother. They only had a few days to prepare for the Exam, and he was going to use them!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Credit for Toriko "Tori" Asano goes to Shadowstorm17 and Credit for Shina goes to OthelloCrass (with some help from me). Thanks a lot guys!**

 **Fun Fact: I gave Shina her name because Shina Soba is an old name for Ramen.**

 **Also, on request, I'll be putting the general abilities of each Girl in the Harem. See Chapter 12 (Fu of Waterfall Chapter 2) for Naruto/Sasuke/Hinata/Sakura**

 **SPOILERS BELOW:**

 **PART ONE FU: Chomei's Wings, Version 1 Cloak, Particle Style, Wind Style, Water Style, ability to control insects, ability to manifest Chomei's armour.**

 **SHIPPUDEN FU: Version 2 Cloak, Mastered Particle Style, Summoning Contract with Giant Insects, Spider Web production (like Kidomaru), Basic Rasengan.**

 **WAR FU: Chomei Link Mode, Full Chomei Manifestation, Particle Style Rasengan**

 **PART ONE HAKU: Ice Style, basic swordsmanship, Water Style, Senbon Mastery, Poison Mastery.**

 **SHIPPUDEN HAKU: Mastered Ice Style, Mastered Swordsmanship, ability to use Snow and Auroras in Ice Style, basic medical jutsu, Ninja Wire Skills**

 **WAR HAKU: Ice Sage Mode (like Hashirama's Wood Sage Mode), wields one of the Mist Swords, Cryogenic Ice Style**


	28. Chunin Exams: Chapter 3

**AN:**

Now we get to the first Exam of the Chunin Exams; The Written Exam. For those who don't want to read the same old exam, I have put a few twists in, so the Exam is not the same as Canon.

We'll also be meeting the third and final OC created by a friend of mine on here! See to the end to learn more, since I don't want to spoil!

 **This Chapter is a bit longer, but it still counts as normal length, so the Next Chapter will be Monday!**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 3: THE FIRST EXAM**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _On the back of her neck, just barely concealed by her headband, was what looked like a strange black tattoo. It was small and consisted of three feathers in a circle. Sasuke did a double take, but by then, the tattoo was hidden away and the Sound Ninja were walking off, muttering quietly amongst themselves._

" _I have a really bad feeling about this." Sasuke said, before going back to look for his brother. They only had a few days to prepare for the Exam, and he was going to use them!_

 **XOXOXOX**

The last few days before the beginning of the Exams passed, and the Leaf Genin had spent almost every moment of that time training or studying, so they would be prepared for the Exams. For the last day, Team 7 and Team 12 had camped out at the Uchiha Compound, having a big sleep over and studying under not only their Senseis, both Itachi, Zabuza and Mikoto. Hinata had been invited, but politely declined to spend the time preparing with her own Team 8. It had been tough, with combat training from Zabuza and studying under Itachi, but all six Genin had come away feeling more prepared than ever. Naruto, Sasuke and Fu had reported their meetings with other teams to their own teams, and everyone had been shocked that another Jinchuriki was in the Village, while Kakashi had promised to keep a close eye on the Sound Ninja, whom were already an unknown quantity to them. The Waterfall Team was only loosely discussed, with everyone promising to leave the fight to Fu if they ran into them, which made the mint-haired girl happy.

It was the morning of the First Exam when Kakashi had collected the group from the Uchiha Compound and escorted them to the Academy. "This will be a Written Test. Remember our lessons and you'll be fine." Kakashi said simply.

"Written Tests are so boring… Can't wait for it to be over!" Naruto said, rubbing some sleep from his eyes.

"Tell me about. They should be giving you brats a more practical exam! Like getting information out of a criminal." Anko grumbled. She was in a bad mood since she wasn't being allowed to Proctor the Survival Exam this time. Apparently Jonin Senseis aren't allowed to, to prevent them giving unfair advantages to their students. When the two teams reached the Academy, Kakashi and Anko turned to face their students.

"This will be the last time we see you guys until after the Second part of the Exam. Do your best." Kakashi smiled.

"And be sure to kick some ass!" Anko added.

The six Genin gave their Senseis big grins (aside from Sai, who simply nodded) and then headed inside. The six of them headed to the third floor, ignoring the group of Genin trying to enter a room on the second floor (Sasuke recognised the Genjutsu on the sign and signalled his group to ignore it). As they were walking, they came across a team of Cloud Ninja standing around in the hallway outside the Exam room, staring out the window.

Naruto sniffed the air and before anyone could stop him, he rushed over to see the Ninja. There were three Genin and a Jonin Sensei, as was normal, but it was odd to see that the Sensei was more bouncy and energetic than the students. He was a dark skinned and very muscular man, with slicked back platinum blond hair with a matching goatee. He had tattoos of bull horns on one cheek and the Kanji for Iron on his shoulder, which Naruto recognised as an Iron Shell Seal, and he wore the Cloud Jonin uniform, minus the shirt under his flak jacket.

"Heya Little Fox, shining bright with the golden locks!" the man rapped (poorly).

"You know what I am? So I'm right, you are a Jinchuriki!" Naruto smiled, getting the attention of his friends.

"Right you are, Mr. Nine! The Great Eight Tails is mine! You can call me; the Rapping Killer Bee!" the man introduced.

"Well this guy is nuts… Is that a requirement for Jinchuriki?" Sasuke joked, earning a playful slap on the head from Fu.

Killer Bee laughed and waved at Fu, "Green Haired Chick went from none to Eleven! That's what I'd expect from Miss Seven!"

"You know me too?" Fu asked.

"He knows all the active Jinchuriki… he's great friends with the Eight Tails, and the Beast tells him." one of Bee's Genin said. The Genin was wearing the same outfit as Bee, though he wore a shirt and lacked the Flak Jacket. His hair was the same shade of blonde, but he was fair skinned and looked very serious. "My name is Cee. My teammates are Yugito Nii and Yoshio Toyoto." he introduced.

Yugito was a female ninja, with sandy blond hair worn in a pony tail. She wore a pair of dark brown shorts and had a dark purple kimono shirt tied by a red sash. Yoshio was a male ninja with short Silver hair that was slicked back like his sensei's, though a single bang was left alone to cover his right eye. He wore dark blue jeans, a white mesh combat shirt and a grey jacket. His most striking feature was his eyes, which were a very pale, almost white, blue colour. At first glance, it almost looked like he had no Irises at all.

"Nice to meet you." Yugito greeted. "I am a Jinchuriki in training. My predecessor is getting very old, and when she passes away, the Two Tails is going to be sealed within me." she said.

"Nice to meet you." Yoshio said, "I'm not a Jinchuriki, but I am interested in them. They make for interesting stories."

Team 7 and 12 quickly introduced themselves, though it was clear that it was Killer Bee, Yugito, Fu and Naruto whom were the only ones interested in talking. "So how come you're all out here?" Fu asked.

"There's another Jinchuriki in their already and he's leaking Killing Intent. Plus, its very loud." Yugito replied. Even without being a Jinchuriki yet, she still had very sensitive ears.

"Mr One is in there, go and see if you dare!" Killer Bee added.

"Sensei, it'll be easier for them to understand you if you don't rap." Yoshio pointed out.

"Fine, I'll stop, but only for a bit, fool ya fool!"

"Its kind of amazing that we've got Four Tailed Beasts and a Future Jinchuriki all in the village at the same time! Can we meet up later to talk? I've got a bunch of ideas I wanted to discuss." Naruto said excitedly, eager to talk about his plans for the Tailed Beasts and his dream paradise for them.

"Sure thing Naruto, I love the Tailed Beasts, so I'll help out any time! You know, you're pretty famous in the Cloud for beating one of our best ninja back during that Hyuga mess." Killer Bee said, grinning.

Naruto chuckled embarrassed but before he could respond, he heard a commotion by the door to the Exam Room. Team 7, Team 12 and the Cloud Team went to see what was going on, and found two Leaf Teams in a stand off. One was Team 8; Hinata's Team, and the other was Team Guy; Neji's Team.

"You shouldn't be here, Hinata-sama. You are far too delicate and important to be in this Exam." Neji said sarcastically, his disdain for his cousin being well-known by now.

"Get lost Neji! Hinata's just as strong as you are! Don't blame her for your messed up family!" Kiba argued.

Sasuke sighed and turned to Naruto, giving him a hand signal to make sure he wouldn't allow the argument to escalate into a fight. Naruto begrudgingly nodded, but that didn't mean he couldn't interfere! "Still causing trouble, Neji?" Naruto asked, stepping out. Hinata, whom had been ignoring Neji, smiled and hugged the boy in greeting.

"Naruto… I suspected you'd be in this exam. Kakashi is always bragging to Guy-sensei about your team. If you're as good as he thinks you are, surely you know it's pointless for Hinata-sama to be in this exam." Neji said dismissively. Neji had always been a bit wary of Naruto, especially since he knew if Naruto went all out, the boy could easily destroy the Hyuga Genius.

"Neji, Hinata-chan is a lot stronger than you give her credit for! Get your head out of your ass and use that genius of yours! You should like Hinata! She's the opposite of everything you hate about the Main Household!" Naruto growled.

Neji glared at the boy, using all his willpower not to activate the Byakugan, as that would certainly bring the whole mess into a fight. Luckily, before the two boys could go at it, Neji's teammates stepped in.

"Come on Neji, Naruto's right. Hinata isn't to blame for your family's issues. Stop using her as a scapegoat." Tenten said, frowning hard at Neji.

"Yosh! It is most unyouthful! Speaking of which, you are Naruto Uzumaki, and that other youthful shinobi is Sasuke Uchiha? I wish to fight you both!" Rock Lee stepped in, fire in his eyes. He looked between the baffled Naruto and the sick-of-this-shit Sasuke before his eyes finally fell on Sakura. "Ah! You are a most ravishing Kunoichi! Please go out with me!" Lee said, pouncing forward to kneel before Sakura.

Sakura recoiled and Sasuke growled, comically kicking Lee into a wall, "Don't flirt with my girlfriend!" he yelled.

Lee didn't seem to hear those words as he pulled himself from the Lee-shaped dent in the wall. "Ah, a sneak attack! Most Ninja-like! Let us fight, Sasuke-kun!"

"This guy is pissing me off!" Sasuke yelled, getting ready to fight while his friends stood behind him with deadpan expressions.

"Didn't he tell us not to fight..." Naruto muttered.

Before a fight could happen, Killer Bee picked up Sasuke by the back of his shirt, and a strange man with a bowl cut appeared out of nowhere and kicked Lee in the face, screaming "LEE! YOU IDIOT!"

"And now Guy-sensei is here." Naruto dead-panned.

"This village is nuts!" Yugito commented, while Fu giggled beside her.

"True, but its a lot of fun too!" she smiled.

Meanwhile, Lee was being lectured by Guy-sensei about the importance of Youth and something else Naruto and Sasuke couldn't comprehend, and some how that culminated in Guy and Lee hugging each other inside some sort of Sunset Genjutsu… Eventually they turned their attention back to their baffled audience.

"So, you are Team 7? Kakashi has told me a lot about you! I am the Hidden Leaf's Handsome Green Beast; Might Guy!" Guy introduced, in all his green spandex glory.

"Uh, hi." Sakura tried to say politely, especially since her teammates were just staring confused at the man.

"When this exam is over, we'll need to arrange a joint-training session between our teams! I know you've already done that with Team 8 and Team 12! It would be a most glorious and youthful display! Now, all of you, get in their and make us Senseis proud!" Guy cheered, wrapping an arm around Killer Bee. The gathered Genin nodded blankly and went into the Exam room, leaving Guy and Killer Bee alone in the hall.

"Get off me, Fool ya fool..." Killer Bee frowned, his energy drained by Guy's antics.

 **[Inside the Exam Room]**

As soon as Team 7, Team 8, Team 12, Neji's team and Yugito's team entered the room, they were bombarded by the killing intent of everyone in it, aside from Team 10 from the Leaf. The intent barely gave the experienced teams a pause, before Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Kiba shot back their own intent, which quickly forced all but the strongest in the room to look away. Smirking, the Leaf Teams went to join Team 10, where Shikamaru gave a lazy wave while Choji and Ino gave a more polite greeting.

"Sasuke-kun, long time no see! And Naruto-kun, good to see you too! You should come to the flower shop more often! Mother just imported some flowers from the Land of Rivers that are supposed to drive Foxes wild!" Ino grinned, running up to both boys.

"Hey Ino. As energetic as always I see." Sasuke smirked. It was no secret that Ino still had a crush on him, and with the CRA in effect, she was starting to seriously consider him as a husband and not just as handsome face. She hadn't tried anything over the top though, out of respect for her friendship with Sakura.

Before Ino could start chattering away again, Shikamaru gestured to Naruto and Kiba, "Hey, I heard that argument outside. Neji causing trouble?"

"Yeah, but his teammates talked him down." Kiba said with a shrug as he fist-bumped Choji. Naruto looked around the room and frowned a bit; the place was full of Genin, but there were no desks or chairs…

"This is supposed to be a written test right? Where are the desks?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I thought the same thing. This is probably just the briefing room and the actual test will be somewhere else. It's troublesome..."

Naruto nodded, but before he could voice any theories, a group of Chunin entered the room, led by a heavily scarred Leaf Ninja with a black trench coat. Naruto, Sasuke and Team 12 gulped; they knew this man very well due to their association with Anko. He was Ibiki Morino, the head of the Torture and Investigations Department and the last man that a person with information would want to meet. Unlike Anko, he was less into the Physical methods of interrogation, but his mind games were almost worse… He had often been able to get Naruto to confess to some prank or another just by playing around with words and tricking him into admitting it.

"Alright you maggots, shut up! I am Ibiki Morino, and I'll be your Proctor for this Exam. Now, I'm going to explain the rules, so keep quiet while I speak." Ibiki yelled as the Chunin began working their way around the room, handing out small playing cards that were colour coded either red, blue or yellow. Once everyone had a card (each member of each team had a different colour), Ibiki began to speak again.

"The Exam is a written exam. Once my explanation is done, the Chunin Watchers will escort you all to one of the three Exam Rooms. The room you get depends on the colour of the card you've got. Once inside and the test begins, you will have one hour to answer nine questions. You'll start with Ten points and for every question you get wrong, you lose a point and if you get caught cheating, you lose two points. Lose all your points and you're kicked out."

"That sounds easy enough." a Rain Ninja said. Ibiki smirked, making those that knew him shudder in fear.

"Oh, but it isn't. You see, you're scored as a team. If a team has fewer than 20 points total, you fail. And if any member loses all their points, all three are failed. But there is another rule as well, to test how in sync you are with your teammates..." Ibiki paused for effect, taking a few moments to enjoy the nervous sweat he could see forming on some of the Genin. "A question will be marked wrong unless all three teammates give the correct answer, with the Exact. Same. Wording."

The Genin quickly erupted into shouts and cries of unfairness, while the Rookie Leaf Ninja all sighed in irritation. They had guessed it wasn't going to be a simple written exam, but it was still annoying to have to work through this. It was clear to the more intelligent Genin that this was meant to test their ability to communicate undetected during a hostile situation and when the other teammates are not clearly visible. Ibiki saw the few Genin whom had worked out the first part of the Exam and he grinned, imagining the looks of terror and confusion when they got to the second and third part…

"Wait a moment. You said there are Nine Questions, but we have ten points. Shouldn't their been ten questions?" asked a polite female Grass Ninja.

"Yes, there is a tenth question. Once 45 minutes have passed, I'll give the question over the PA System. It has some extra rules, and since most of you won't be getting that far, I won't bother explaining it here." the scarred man explained, before opening the classroom door. "Now, follow the Chunin that gave you your card to your classroom. You have one minute."

Immediately, the Chunin dashed out of the room, with the few quicker Genin chasing behind them. The Chunin weren't wearing any kind of indicator, so the Genin had to remember which one had given them their card. A few cheated by following others with the same card colour, but a handful of others were left dazed and disheartened as they wandered the hallways. Ibiki grinned; the cuts were beginning already!

Naruto had been given a yellow card, and while he hadn't paid attention to the one giving it to him, he was able to pick up their scent by sniffing the card, and followed it to one of the older classrooms on the top floor. Before he was allowed in, he had to present his card to the Chunin, whom took it and destroyed it before allowing Naruto into the room. He was one of the first to arrive, letting him see who else was in his group. Those before him were Yoshio from the Cloud and Lee from Team Guy, and those after him were Haku, Ino, Shino, Temari and one of the masked Sand Ninja from Toriko's team. He also recognised Daiki from Waterfall, whom he glared at, and kept a close eye on Zaku and one of the masked Sound Ninja too. Naruto himself was being closely watched by a Kunoichi dressed in red and wearing the Headband of Stone.

The minute quickly passed, and the Exam began with Ibiki's voice shouting "Begin" over the PA system. Naruto flipped over the test and quickly smacked his head into the desk. This looked like one of those tests Mizuki would apply Genjutsu too back at the Academy! This wasn't a Genin or even Chunin level test! At first, Naruto thought this was being aimed at him, but with a discreet look at the other participants, he was able to see from their expressions that the same thing was on their tests.

" _Crap! All that studying was pointless!"_ Naruto thought. He panicked for a moment, before remembering Kakashi-sensei's favourite lesson, after Teamwork; Look underneath the underneath. Just like with the identical answers requirement, this was another trick in the test. _"I need to think…"_ The Fox boy ran through everything in his head from Ibiki's explanations to the cards and the Chunin, to the rooms and the tests until finally, it hit him. _"Ibiki said he didn't expect all of us to get to the tenth question… But we only get kicked out for cheating, so he expected a lot of us to cheat… Plus these are impossible questions, and when Iruka-sensei caught a cheater in the Academy, they failed immediately! With ten points and only losing two per question… I need to cheat to pass!"_ Naruto tapped his fist into his palm, smiling. He tapped his finger under the desk to create a contact seal, which summoned one of his Fox Familiars without smoke. The familiar already had Naruto's memories, so it was able to immediately transform itself into a small insect and crawl away to find the others. Once the Familiar was in the hallways, it was able to sniff out Sasuke and Sakura and then run to them, where it relayed the message by creating a contact seal in the shape of the message on his teammates' palms.

Sasuke had already worked out the trick, and Sakura was smart enough to figure out the answers by herself, so Sasuke and Naruto waited for Sakura to finish her test, then discreetly copy the answers onto a piece of paper and hand it to the familiar, whom memorised the answers and gave the paper to Sasuke. Thirty minutes into the test, Team 7 was happily relaxing as they waited for the tenth question. Not everyone was so lucky; every few minutes, Ibiki's voice would come back on and tell everyone that someone had been kicked out, and so their teammates would be too. A few argued, but after they were smashed into walls by the Chunin, the arguments stopped.

While he waited, Naruto mentally contacted Chomei, whom explained to him what the others were doing. Apparently Shikamaru was using his own genius to answer the questions, while stretching a shadow possession to both his teammates. Luckily there was enough shadow for him to use… Shino and Fu were using the same idea; having small numbers of Ants deliver the answers to their teammates after their insects had spied the answers on another test. The rest of the Teams were using methods Chomei couldn't identify, but she suspected the Sound Teams were using some sort of barely audible frequency to cheat, while the Sand Teams were doing something with the One Tail…

Finally, after 45 minutes in, and after the majority of the teams had been disqualified for cheating, Ibiki's voice came in on the PA. "Well, it looks like quite a few of you have been kicked out! Didn't I tell you the penalty for cheating?" Naruto could practically hear the grin in his voice… "Well, for those of you who remain, we have one more question. There are some special rules for it; first, all three members of the team need to get it right, but you can use different wording now. Second, you'll be given a choice of if you want to take the question; if anyone says no, their whole team is disqualified. But, if you take the question and get it wrong, the whole team will be forced to remain Genin for the remainder of their careers."

Naruto frowned as the Genin around him argued against the unfairness, and by the echoes, the other rooms were doing the same. Ibiki promptly shut them up "Silence! If you don't like it, then drop out and hope I'm not the proctor next time! Besides, I wasn't finished; if only one member of the team gets this question wrong, then not only will they be disqualified, they'll lose their headband and be dropped from the Ninja Program!"

The arguments from before went silent as the Genin turned pale. Kicked out of the program… it would mean everything they'd worked for would be wasted; their whole lives and ambitions ended before they could really begin. Many of the Genin had nothing else to fall back on if this failed. Fear took hold and one after another, people dropped out. Several in Naruto's group dropped out, and Ibiki disqualified their teammates as they went. Eventually, Naruto got sick of hearing Ibiki's voice smugly kicking out ninja after ninja, and he grew tired of the defeated expressions on those that gave up, or were removed because a Teammate gave up. Angrily, Naruto got to his feet and marched to the front of the room, to where a Chunin was using a small mic to inform Ibiki of those leaving, before snatching the mic from the Chunin and bringing it to his lips.

"Alright, I'm sick of hearing this guy spouting out the names of quitters! We're Ninja! We can't just run and hide whenever we get in a situation we don't like! And if you get a mission that's important to your village, do you really think you can just refuse for the sake of your career!? If you aren't willing to do whatever you have to for your village, but you are willing to let your teammates down, then get out of here! You don't deserve to be Ninja! But if you have the guts to actually do this job, then sit your ass down and take the damned question!" Naruto roared. And with that, he dropped the mic and returned to his seat with a defiant expression.

Across the three Exam rooms, Naruto's friends grinned while those that didn't know him tried to picture the one behind the words. Even in his seat in the Security Office, Ibiki grinned and chuckled to himself. No one else dared to stand up or give up, so the scarred Jonin sighed with a contented smile. "Alright everyone, return to the briefing room for the Tenth Question. You have 30 seconds!"

As soon as Ibiki's finger left the button on the PA receiver, he could hear the mad scramble as everyone tried to get back before the deadline. Ibiki purposely let at least one minute pass before getting up and leisurely walking to the Briefing room. Naruto had ruined his fun, but he could still squeeze out a little more by making the Genin wait.

When he entered the room though, Ibiki was not met by the panicked or fearful Genin he had last seen in the room, but by a collection of determined faces, all staring back at him, almost daring him to give them the question. And front and centre was the one responsible; Naruto Uzumaki, with his teammates at his side. Ibiki approached the boy and glared at him; "That was a nice stunt you pulled, brat." he said with faux anger.

Naruto shrugged, "Sorry Ibiki, It just annoyed me to see so many people give up after such an amateurish threat." he teased. Ibiki glared harder, before breaking out into a smirk.

"I guess I should have tried harder. That trick normally gets way more people." he laughed, confusing the other Genin.

"So, what's the Tenth Question?" Temari asked.

"There isn't one, at least not like the others. The decision to come here and take the Tenth question was the REAL question." Ibiki explained. "As many of you probably worked out already, this test had three parts; the first was how to communicate with Teammates during adverse situations or imprisonment, the second was gathering information discreetly and during hostile situations, and the third, as this blond knuckle-head pointed out, was to test your bravery and determination in the face of danger. As Chunin, you may be given missions that could land you in serious danger… danger of torture, crippling injury or even death." Ibiki removed his bandanna, revealing even more scars and even puncture wounds, "And in that situation, a Chunin cannot simply refuse, not if it is vital for the mission. You accept, you press on and you succeed. For a Ninja, especially a Chunin or Jonin; failure can and often does mean death."

The Genin stared in awe at Ibiki as he retied his bandanna, a new respect growing within them. A few moments later, the Chunin came in with piles of tests and smirks on their faces. They muttered something to Ibiki, whom nodded and turned back to the group. "Well, it looks like we have a strong batch this year. All those present, you have passed the First Exam!"

Naruto cheered happily and his teammates did the same while congratulating their Leaf Allies. All in all, 34 teams passed the Written Exam. During the celebration, a pillar of fire erupted in front of the room, stretching from floor to ceiling. A shadow appeared within the flame and with a wave of its hand, the flame vanished and revealed the man within.

"Greetings Genin. My name is Itachi Uchiha, and I am the proctor of the Second Exam."

 **[Deep with the Land of Fire, in the Leaf Prison]**

Fire and screaming was everywhere as a full scale riot raged through the facility. Ninja criminals of all levels were running wild, their cells suddenly ripped open by a collection of intruders disguised as Leaf ANBU. At the head of this group was a man with long silver hair, tied in a pony tail. He was carefully picking out High-level prisoners and releasing them on the condition they joined his forces.

"Hey, release me." came the voice of a man with dark pink hair. The Lead Intruder looked at the man and tilted his head.

"Ah, you are one of the ones on our Master's List." he said, before slashing open the cell with a Chakra Scalpel. "Congratulations; from now on, you serve Orochimaru-sama."

"Give me a chance to get revenge on that Fox and his bitches, and I'll serve whoever you want." said Kisuke Haruno.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Ha! Told you I wasn't done with him! Kisuke is back and he's going to be one of the major villains of this Arc!**

 **Yoshio Toyoto was created by Antex-The Legendary Zoroark and is by far the most developed of the three OC's! He'll have some important roles to fill in the next arc too!**

 **How did you like the exam? I wanted to give it a few twists to make it interesting while keeping the fundamentals! I'll be doing that with all of them, including the inevitable Preliminaries.**

 **Current Pairings are:**

 **Naruto/Hinata/Fu/?/?/?**

 **Sasuke/Sakura/Haku/?/?/?**

 **Current Harem Suggestions are:**

 **Naruto: Karin (9 Vote), Temari (17 Vote), Ino (7 Votes), Hanabi (8 Vote), Tenten (5 Votes), Yugito (5 Vote), Tayuya (4 Vote), Samui (1 Vote), Kaguya (2 Vote), Konan (5 Vote), Kurotsuchi (11 Votes), Shizune (2 Vote), Mikoto (1 Vote), Kurenai (1 Vote), Mabui (1 Vote), Koyuki (1 Vote) and Anko (8 Votes)**

 **Sasuke: Ino (13 Votes), Karin (11 Vote), Kin (6 Vote), Tayuya (3 Vote), Tenten (10 Vote), Samui (3 Vote), Karui (1 Vote), Kurotsuchi (1 Vote) and Anko (11 Votes)**


	29. Chunin Exams: Chapter 4

**AN:**

Now we get to see what twists I have for the second exam; also known as the Survival Test!

 **Next Chapter will be released on Friday! Be warned that the chapters after that are fairly long, so only one will be released each week for a couple of weeks.**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 4: SURVIVAL TOWER**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Fire and screaming was everywhere as a full scale riot raged through the facility. Ninja criminals of all levels were running wild, their cells suddenly ripped open by a collection of intruders disguised as Leaf ANBU. At the head of this group was a man with long silver hair, tied in a pony tail. He was carefully picking out High-level prisoners and releasing them on the condition they joined his forces._

" _Hey, release me." came the voice of a man with dark pink hair. The Lead Intruder looked at the man and tilted his head._

" _Ah, you are one of the ones on our Master's List." he said, before slashing open the cell with a Chakra Scalpel. "Congratulations; from now on, you serve Orochimaru-sama."_

" _Give me a chance to get revenge on that Fox and his bitches, and I'll serve whoever you want." said Kisuke Haruno._

 **XOXOXOX**

"Greetings Genin. My name is Itachi Uchiha, and I am the proctor of the Second Exam."

Sasuke smiled at the sight of his brother, and resisted the urge to wave and greet him. Itachi looked to his brother and his friends, giving them a subtle wink before turning to address the passing 34 Teams. "The Second part of the Chunin Exams is the Survival Test, but this year, I have expanded on the test. Previously, the test focused solely on survival in the wilderness, but this year, the exam will test your ability to infiltrate, move through an enemy stronghold, steal valuable items and information, escape, survive in the wilderness AND evade capture by pursuers." Itachi said, clicking his fingers. Two of his Police Force members appeared in a flicker and begun hanging a rough map of the Leaf Village on the blackboard at the front of the room.

"Now pay attention. From here on, this test will be treated as a simulated mission and this is your briefing. Each member of your team will be going to a separate tower built somewhere in the Village Outskirts." Itachi pointed to three spots outside the village walls, "The tower you enter will have a door painted to the same colour as the card you were issued earlier. Inside the tower, you must navigate around, evading traps and sentries until you find the Key to the exit and a clue as to the location of the second part of the test. Once you have the key and the clue, escape the tower, reconvene with your teammates and discover the location of the second portion of the exam. You have until sundown. Begin!"

Several of the Genin were startled by the sudden start of the test, but most immediately shot out of the windows to race toward their assigned tower. Team 7 and Team 12 were close together, so they stopped for a moment to plan. "This test will go easier if we work together. We'll go in teams of two and then reconvene at the Village Gate." Sasuke said. He had been given the blue card, so he would be teamed with Sai, while Sakura with the red card was teamed with Fu, leaving Naruto and Haku to team up as the ones given the yellow cards. All the Genin were glad they'd remembered their coloured card as it had been taken in the last test…

"Stealth and infiltration will be easy for us! Let's go Haku!" Naruto declared, before running off to find the Yellow Tower. Haku chuckled and raced after him. Sasuke and Sai promptly headed out too, leaving Sakura and Fu together.

"Do you know were the towers are?" Sakura asked. Fu shook her head, but grinned.

"Lets look from the Sky! Hold onto my legs." Fu said, as she summoned Chomei's wings and fluttered into the air. Sakura obediently took hold and the two kunoichi flew high into the air and was able to spot the three towers, looming in the distance. They were styled like traditional Daimyo fortresses, made primarily of wood with stone supports. Luckily, the roofs had been tiled with their colour, so Fu and Sakura were easily able to fly to their assigned fortress and land on a ledge beside an open window. After all, if this was an Infiltration Test, why go through the front door?

Sakura carefully examined the window and the floor inside the tower before entering and gesturing to Fu that it was safe. Fu flew in and dismissed her wings, thankful that they didn't make the buzzing noise so many insects did. The hallway of the tower was sparse and undecorated, with only a few braziers and sliding doors along its plain white walls, and the wooden floor had been polished to perfection.

Sakura signalled to Fu, but the girl hadn't yet mastered the Leaf Sign Language, so Sakura resorted to whispers. "There are traps along the walls and in the floors. We need to move slowly." she whispered.

Fu nodded, before calling on her chakra and summoning a small horde of spiders, ants and other household bugs that had made the tower their home. She controlled them with her chakra and sent them out to scout the tower, with orders to return if they found anything of note. Sakura was a little creeped out by the bugs, but she ignored the feeling and slowly led Fu down the hall.

The Jinchuriki's skills were, to be frank, far better than Sakura's in all but Genjutsu and Bukijutsu, but Sakura beat everyone in their year with raw intelligence, and she had a sharp eye rivalled only by the Sharingan. She was able to spot several traps before Fu could accidentally trigger them, and was even able to disarm a kunai launcher hidden behind a wall scroll and re-purpose the device as a trap of her own, in case they ran into any sentries. The tower wasn't exactly a quiet place though, and the sounds of other Ninja engaging with the Sentries on the lower floors carried up to Sakura and Fu, and the screams of those caught by traps sent shivers down their spines. Not only that, but the Sentries themselves clanked around in samurai-style armour and wielded long spears, but as far as Sakura could see, they were hired from outside the village as they were certainly not Ninja.

Fu and Sakura had discovered this when they accidentally came across a Sentry taking a smoke break near one of the open windows. Before the man could even put his helmet back on or fumble for his spear, Sakura had used her twin tantos to slice the spear head off his weapon and Fu had knocked the man out with a hard strike to the throat to close his windpipe and silence him, before choking him out and leaving him unconscious. Sakura used some sealing knowledge to seal the Sentry's weapon and armour into a scroll, while Fu tied him up and hid him behind another wall scroll (which had been freed of its trap).

"Well, that was easy." Fu muttered, feeling more than a bit underwhelmed. Her insects had yet to report back, so all she'd been able to do so far was follow Sakura around, avoiding the traps that the pink haired girl pointed out.

"These guys must be mercenaries, or Civilians with basic combat training. No Ninja would be this weak… even Academy Students are more capable." Sakura commented as she stowed the sealing scroll back into her pouch. "The lower floors are probably still chaos, so we should move to the upper floors. I'd wager that the items we're looking for are in a high security area, so the more guards and traps, the closer we are!"

Fu nodded and the two quietly ran around the hall, trying to find the entrance to the upper level. Fortress Towers like this often had secret passages and vaults used by the inhabitants to escape or flank invaders, and the Test Towers were no different, but a special key was needed to open the doors without using force. Eventually, Sakura grew frustrated with the search for the stairs and turned to her Green haired companion. "Fu, does Chomei give you sensor abilities?"

"Not really. When she's inside me, she can only detect strong or close chakra signatures. Detection is more Naruto's thing." Fu explained. Sakura frowned; this meant she'd need to use a bit of force.

"Then it looks like we're doing this the old fashion way. Look at the brazier on this wall." Sakura pointed to the metal object mounted a few feet above her head. "That brazier is different from the others; it has a strange indent on the bracket holding it onto the wall."

Fu hovered up to it with her wings and examined it closely, and sure enough, the rough symbol of the Hidden Leaf was printed into the metal. "How did you spot that?"

"I was looking for it." Sakura explained. "There is a gentle breeze coming from these cracks in the wall." she ran her hand over the wall next to the brazier. "Meaning this wall holds a passage. Plus, the paint on this section of wall has been discoloured. Its caused by the oils from human skin absorbing into it due to continuous, prolonged contact. People have been putting their hands on the wall while opening the door."

The young Jinchuriki stood their, her mouth hanging open. Naruto maybe the power house, and Sasuke maybe the eyes, but when it came to Team 7, Sakura was the brains. The pink-haired genin giggled a bit at Fu's amazed expression. "Well anyway, we need to obtain the key to the door. Its probably a signet ring worn by the higher ranking sentries. We need to find them and lure them to a place we can ambush him and take him out! Once we have the ring, we can freely move through the tower and evade most of the traps."

"So that's why you wanted to know if I can sense people… Well if the Elite Sentries are strong enough and close enough, I could probably sniff them out, but if we're that close they could see us and we'd be able to see them too." Fu pointed out.

"Then lets just use disguises to sneak through. The armour they wear clangs like crazy, so normal Transformation Jutsus won't work, since they're just illusions… perhaps we can use the armour we stole instead?" Sakura offered.

"Great idea! You go in while dressed as one of them, and I'll hide nearby. Once you find someone with a ring, signal me and I'll blind everyone with my Scale Powder and you can nab the ring!"

Sakura grinned and nodded, agreeing to Fu's plan. The Haruno carefully unsealed some of the stolen armour and placed herself inside it, wearing only enough to make it clang believably in and using the Transformation Jutsu to fill in the rest. Fu transformed herself into a mouse and quietly crept along the shadows out of sight while Sakura plodded along in the armour, trying to find the barracks. She was careful to avoid the traps, and eventually, she heard talking from a nearby room.

Cautiously, Sakura approached the door to the room and pulled it open, smiling beneath her disguise to see a Guard Station with several sentries milling about, drinking Sake or idly cleaning their equipment.

"Hey, did you finish your smoke? Took you long enough!" one of the Sentries yelled, roughly pulling Sakura over to him and sitting her at a table where some sort of card game was going on.

" _These Mercenaries don't take us seriously..."_ Sakura thought.

"This job is way too easy! The Leaf are paying us a pretty purse just to scare off some baby ninja and wander about their towers! We should just take the pay and leave." one of the drinking sentries complained.

"Shut up. These kids may be small fry, but the Leaf Ninja are not to be messed with." another sentry said, lightly whapping the loud-mouth drunk on the head.

"Tch, no kidding!" the one playing cards across from Sakura yelled. He turned his attention back to the disguised girl and frowned seriously, "We got a message from the Yellow Tower while you were smoking. Apparently some crazy shit is going down there! They were spouting all sorts of crap about Giant Foxes and freak Blizzards! I mean damn, I know these ninja are crazy, but I didn't know they could whip out Kitsune and Yukionnas!"

Sakura and Fu repressed a giggle. It was obvious they were talking about Naruto and Haku… The two Genin almost felt sorry for the simple mercenaries; those two were not the kind of people that any normal person would go up against. The Sentries conversations tapered off and Sakura began to feel nervous; she could feel the people sitting with her waiting for her to speak, but she had no idea what the person she was disguised as sounded like! She had expected that one of the Elites would be in the room from the start, but none of the sentries present were wearing the signet ring she was looking for…

Thankfully, luck was on her side.

The door to the Guard Post was thrown open and a Sentry wearing noticeably more expensive armour came marching in. "What are you all goofing off for!? We have a job to do and the forces on the lower floors are being overwhelmed! A few have already managed to get past us and a couple of our men have been killed!"

The Sentries all looked panicked. Sakura didn't know it, but they had all been warned that some of the Ninja taking the test would go for the kill, hence why they brought their heavy armour, but none of them had actually expected to lose any of their men. Still, they were Mercenaries and knew the risks of their profession, so they quickly began to grab their equipment and head for the door, with the newly present Elite shoving them through angrily. He grabbed Sakura's wrist to pull her too, but his expression shifted to one of confusion, as his hand past through the illusion of her gauntlet. The Gauntlets were one of the things Sakura had not put on, since they made her hands stiff and made signalling hard.

Time seemed to slow as adrenaline pumped through Sakura's body. The Elite Sentry was seconds away from putting two and two together and realising she was an imposter, but as he looked at Sakura, she too was looking at him, specifically the ring on his left hand. It was a rough and dirty piece of black iron that had been made in a rush and was still covered in imperfections, put the Leaf Symbol was polished to a shine. Sakura quickly performed a hand signal, causing the hidden Fu to burst from her disguise, already halfway through her handsigns.

" **Particle Style:** **Scale Powder Jutsu!** " she yelled, before blowing a cloud of glittering dust from her mouth and covering the room. A single speck of the dust caught the light, and that was all that the jutsu needed. Before the Sentries could register what was happening, the powder bounced the light back and forth across the room and between itself, quickly bathing the room in blinding light. Fu used Chomei's eyes to see in the light, and Sakura had been prepared for it, so the flash hadn't blinded her. Sakura promptly grabbed the wrist of the Elite Sentry, liberating him of his ring and then threw him over her shoulder into the other guards, all reeling from the light.

The next moment, Fu and Sakura were on the other side of the tower's floor, having rapidly escaped along a path they had already cleared. From the moment the sentry had grabbed Sakura to the two Kunoichi escaping, it had only been six seconds.

"Did you get it?" Fu asked, panting a bit. Sakura smiled and nodded, holding up the prized ring. The Jinchuriki eyed it a bit before frowning, "Uh, Sakura?"

"Yeah?" Sakura responded.

"Did you really need the finger?" Fu asked, looking a bit disturbed. Sakura blinked and looked at her prize. Sure enough, the ring was still attached to the Sentry's finger… said finger was of course, no longer attached to the Sentry…

Once the Adrenaline cleared from Sakura's head, she gasped and dropped the finger. In the excitement, she remembered that the ring had been stuck on too tight, so she had whipped out a kunai and cut off the finger right at the knuckle. She only fully realised what she'd done once the situation had calmed down. "I don't suppose I should go and say sorry, right?" Sakura half-joked as she gingerly picked up the finger and pried the ring of it.

Fu shook her head, not sure whether to be amused or disgusted. Before the two girls headed to the secret passage, Sakura set the finger, some stitches, bandages and a bottle of antiseptic and anaesthetic in the corner of the hall, before loudly banging on the stolen helmet to draw attention. She hoped that one of the Mercenaries would come across the equipment and find out who owned the finger, so he could get help.

With the Signet Ring in hand, the rest of the test was a cakewalk for Fu and Sakura. They returned to the passage, where Fu fluttered up to the brazier and used the ring to open the passage. The wall pushed itself in and then slid over to reveal a secret stairway that was lit only by tiny stone windows that took in light from outside. The windows were too small for even a child's hand to enter, and were more like air holes. Still, the two girls pressed on and after navigating the slightly baffling series of passages, which were thankfully trap free, they find their way to a treasure room. The room was stocked from floor to ceiling with gold coins, jewels and various items crafted from precious metals and encrusted with gemstones. Up against one wall was a small desk filled with ledgers and opposite the other wall which had some sort of puzzle lock door.

"I guess another solution for the test was finding the answer to the door." Sakura mused as she scanned the room for traps. There were no obvious places for traps to be, nor any obvious pressure plates or trip wires, but neither Sakura nor Fu felt the room was as harmless as it looked.

"This looks way too easy. There must be a trick." Sakura muttered.

"Hold on, let me try something." Fu said, before running through handsigns. " **Particle Style: Dust Whirl!** "

Dust began to roll off of Fu's body like steam from hot water and whirl around the room in a gentle breeze. Sakura eyed Fu with a sceptical look, but quickly realised what she was doing. The dust settled around the room, revealing a maze of practically invisible tripwires that looked almost like cobwebs now that the dust was hanging off it. "Good idea Fu!" Sakura praised as Fu bashfully smiled.

"Thanks, but I hope you have an idea on how to get through. These wires go all the way up the wall and I can't see a clear path for me to fly through." Fu said. Fu was a very slender girl, but she wasn't very acrobatic; relying instead on her speed and the strength of her legs, and her wings were rather large and would trigger almost all the traps if she tried to fly through.

Sakura smirked, "No worries. I've got this." she said, before rapidly flipping, ducking and spinning around the tripwires. Fu gaped as her partner crossed the room, like an elegant dancer crossing a stage, before coming to a stop at the desk. "I'm a master at this sort of thing! Its one of the few really great skills I learned from my uncle." Sakura grinned. Fu frowned a bit at the mention of Kisuke Haruno, as like the other Leaf Genin, she had gained a powerful hatred for the man after finding out what he had done. Ino had even seen to it that he receive a rather...aggressive interrogation from her father. Sakura was not bothered by it, as she wanted to forgive and forget, just as Naruto and Sasuke had done for her.

Sakura looked over the desk and saw that the different ledgers held account details (she had to give it to Itachi, he was thorough in setting up the scenario) and the occasional correspondence. She flipped through a few of them, speeding reading as she did, until she noticed continuous references to a Forest and a certain Gemstone that was shaped like "a pale face in the night".

"Any luck?" Fu asked, getting a bit impatient. The vault had no windows, so they couldn't tell what time of day it was, but they felt it was getting close to Sundown.

"I think I have the important information." Sakura said, before opening another draw on the desk and finding a key. "This must be the Key to the exit." she muttered, pocketing in. She was about to turn to Fu and leave when she noticed a shining stone in the draw. It was pretty, but it looked like a pale marble with a white streak on it. A pale face in the night… "A Moonstone." Sakura muttered, picking up the small stone and palming it for a moment. It was nowhere near as grand or valuable looking as the other gemstones in the room, and based on where it was, it was likely supposed to be something of sentimental value as opposed to material value.

"We should go. Now!" Fu half-yelled, as she could hear the dials on the Puzzle door begin to twist and turn. And not randomly either; whoever was doing this knew the answer.

Sakura nodded and quickly flipped back to where Fu was, before the two retreated into the secret passage and closed the door behind them. With the key, information and strange stone in hand, Sakura and Fu ran through the passages hidden within the walls until they reached the ground floor. They could escape the tower via the windows, the same way they had arrived, but if the key was a condition for passing the test, they might as well use it. And it was a good thing they did, as once they found the back door (which was actually a service entrance in the back of the pantry) they were met by a pair of Chunin and Itachi Uchiha himself.

"So, you two worked together for the goal? That was admirable of you. Now, do you both have your keys?" Itachi asked. At this point, Sakura assumed he was a shadow clone. Sakura pulled her key out of the door and pulled out another one she had grabbed for Fu. Itachi nodded and took the keys before standing aside. "Good work. Now go find your teammates and discover the second part of the test."

Sakura and Fu smiled and gave a short bow of thanks to Itachi before running off to the village gate, where they had agreed to meet the others. When they arrived, they discovered they were the last ones to get there, as Naruto, Sasuke, Haku and Sai were all waiting patiently. "Hey guys! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Sakura called.

Sasuke smiled at her while Naruto and the others chuckled at bit. "Don't worry, we've still got an hour until Sundown. Did you get the clues?" Haku asked.

"Not physical ones, not exactly anyway." Sakura said. "I just found a bunch of references to a Forest inside a ledger. I also got this." she said, holding up the Moonstone. She and Fu quickly gave a rundown of their experience in the tower, causing Sasuke to grin and Naruto's eyes to widen in admiration.

"Ah, your plan worked so much better than ours!" Naruto complained. "Haku and I tried holding a sentry hostage and interrogating him to get the information, but I accidentally set a tapestry on fire with my Scorch Style… which led to that." Naruto pointed off to where the Yellow Tower was. Smoke was billowing out of the upper floors, but the lower ones were frozen solid. "In the end, we had to brute force it and just tore through the place 'till we got our key."

Haku nodded along, "We found it in an office on the second floor. We also found this diary." she said, handing the book to Sakura. Sasuke and the others had already looked through it for clues, but Sakura was the more intelligent member, so they wanted her to check it too. Sakura flipped through it quickly, but found very little in it besides the boring day to day life of some Feudal Lord. She wondered if Itachi had written this himself or gotten someone else to do it…

"There isn't much here. The only interesting points were his night time visits with a female soldier in the Training Grounds of the Castle." Sakura frowned.

"So if that's the clue, then we need to go to a Training Ground?" Fu offered.

"We could have guessed that much without the clue." Sasuke said, scratching his chin.

"But it also has something to do with Forests, so a Training Ground in the forest?" Naruto added.

Sakura shook her head, "That isn't enough. This is the Hidden Leaf; half our Training Grounds are in the Forest."

Haku nodded, "Perhaps we should add what Sai and Sasuke-kun found."

The gathered Genin turned to the two stoic boys. Sasuke looked disturbed by something, so Sai was the one to answer. "We recovered our Key from a vault, like Fu and Sakura. We deciphered the Puzzle Door to get inside, but it was not a treasure vault, but rather a shrine. A shrine to the deceased."

Sai paused as Sasuke flinched a bit. The others looked at him concerned, but the boy didn't respond to them. Naruto frowned and gently tapped his friend on the head with his tails. "Come on Sasuke, we can't help if you clam up on us."

Sasuke's frown deepened and he visibly retreated into himself a bit more. Despite this, he spoke in a barely audible whisper. "Itachi had set up the shrine. It used a picture… a picture of his former lover, whom died in the massacre. The puzzle for the door is one we used to do together as children and the traps in the vault were the same ones he trained me with. He wanted only me to get inside and see that picture."

Sakura took his hand and squeezed it, comforting her boyfriend. Haku stood beside him, just close enough to be supportive without actually touching him, that was something for Sakura to do, not her. Sasuke appreciated it all the same. Naruto and Fu gave them a bit of space and a few minutes of silence, while Sai watched on, trying to understand those emotions. After a short time, Sakura found her voice again, "Why would Itachi do that? It seems unnecessary."

"It was our clue." Sasuke said. "The clue is Death. Or perhaps many deaths, like the massacre. Itachi probably chose that picture because I would be the only one who'd recognise her and connect her to the Uchihas, since she was a very distant member from a branch family."

The Genin nodded, accepting the answer. Itachi was known to work in strange ways, and perhaps that clue, as cruel as it seemed for both brothers, was his way of mentally challenging and testing his younger brother, and preparing him for the future tests. Naruto didn't like how much it effected Sasuke, but if Itachi felt this was necessary to make his brother stronger, then it wasn't in Naruto to question it. He would however support his friend.

"Okay, so we have the clues of Forest, Training Ground and Death. So it's a Forest Training Ground where a lot of people have died?" Fu suggested.

"There are currently five Training Grounds that are noted for having high death numbers. Only one is in the Forest… or IS a Forest." Sai pointed out.

All the members of Team 7 and Team 12 suddenly felt very apprehensive. They knew the place...and they had not heard anything good about it. "Alright..." Naruto said, gathering his courage, "Time to go, to Training Ground 44: The Forest of Death!"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **And we're done! I hope you enjoyed the twist on the usual Survival Test! The Forest of Death will not be quite as twist filled, simply because I love that particular exam, though something extra will be thrown in to tie into the previous test.**

 **How did you like seeing the story from Sakura's side? She hasn't had a lot to do yet, since the main fights in the last Arc were done by Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke, so I'm giving her more of a focus this time around.**

 **She'll even have one of the major battles for this Arc!**

 **Anyway, next chapter will be the beginning of the Forest of Death, and our teams first encounter with the sinister snake...**


	30. Chunin Exams: Chapter 5

**AN:**

Now we get to part one of the Forest of Death! There are three chapters planned for this area, but a lot will be happening so strap yourselves in!

 **Next chapter is super long, so it will be out on Wednesday 22nd**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 5: SNAKE IN THE GRASS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _The Genin nodded, accepting the answer. Itachi was known to work in strange ways, and perhaps that clue, as cruel as it seemed for both brothers, was his way of mentally challenging and testing his younger brother, and preparing him for the future tests. Naruto didn't like how much it effected Sasuke, but if Itachi felt this was necessary to make his brother stronger, then it wasn't in Naruto to question it. He would however support his friend._

" _Okay, so we have the clues of Forest, Training Ground and Death. So it's a Forest Training Ground where a lot of people have died?" Fu suggested._

" _There are currently five Training Grounds that are noted for having high death numbers. Only one is in the Forest… or IS a Forest." Sai pointed out._

 _All the members of Team 7 and Team 12 suddenly felt very apprehensive. They knew the place...and they had not heard anything good about it. "Alright..." Naruto said, gathering his courage, "Time to go, to Training Ground 44: The Forest of Death!"_

 **XOXOXOX**

Team 7 and Team 12 sighed with relief when they arrived at the Forest of Death and found other teams waiting there, as well as many Chunin and Itachi himself. That at least confirmed that they had come to the right place! Itachi gave them a reassuring smile when he saw them, confirming it wasn't just a trick. Sasuke gave him a look, which made Itachi's smile turn sad, but the elder Uchiha quickly turned back to what he was doing. The Forest of Death loomed over the Genin, with only a flimsy chain link fence and a minuscule number of warding seals keeping the horrors within from escaping.

Howling, growls and screams off all kinds echoed in the distance, and an ungodly chill seemed to waft out of the trees, carrying the stench of death and decay with it. Naruto almost gagged on the strong scent of blood, but he forced himself to take several deep breathes to get used to it, though it was unpleasant and made him feel sick. The soil near the fence felt stodgy and thick, like marshland, and the slight red tinge to it showed how much blood had been soaked into the earth… this place wasn't called the Forest of Death for nothing…

"This is a real Training Ground!?" Fu gasped. She had heard horror stories about it from Anko, but she'd always assumed she was pulling her leg.

"Yes. It is usually reserved for Chunin and higher ranked Shinobi, but it has been opened for the Exams." Sai explained. The Genin shuddered as another horrendous roar shook the forest.

The forest wasn't the only thinking making a commotion though, as Naruto heard Itachi's voice arguing with some of the Genin from another village. Curiously, Naruto led the group towards it, and found a small crowd surrounding Itachi and some Chunin, whom were looking rather unimpressed at a Genin on the ground in front of them, his nose bleeding and his lip split. Naruto frowned, before spotting Team 8 and going over to join them.

"Hinata-chan! What happened here?" he asked as he embraced his girlfriend.

Hinata smiled at the hug and waved to the others, "I'm not entirely sure. That Genin was arguing with Itachi, and then attacked him."

Sasuke snorted, "Then he rightly got his ass kicked, right?" Hinata nodded.

Itachi cleared his throat and drew all attention back to him; "I have explained this to every team that has arrived so far, but since several people still aren't getting it, I will explain again." he began, before gesturing to one of the gates behind him that led into the forest, "In order to enter the Forest and be eligible for the Second part of the Survival Exam, you need a Key, and to receive that Key, you must exchange something of value with the Chunin at the Mission Desk."

"But what's the point of that!?" Zaku yelled. Sasuke frowned, he had hoped that the Sound Teams wouldn't pass…

Itachi sighed and put a hand to his head; "In a mission, such as the one I gave you for this Exam, you will sometimes have opportunities to gather information or valuable items that you were not explicitly ordered to. There are many such items in those towers, and each Team needs to offer at least one to the Mission Desk to prove you fully understand this. There is still time before Sundown, so if you do not have such an item, go and get one. But be aware that you must explain its worth in order for it to count."

Sasuke chuckled a bit. Seeing his brother so exasperated made him feel a little less bitter about the test he'd put in the Tower for him. It was so like him to squeeze in even more tests for people to trip over. The fact that Itachi wasn't simply failing everyone who left the towers without valuable items or information showed that he knew it was a little obtuse, but that didn't stop the elder Uchiha from upholding that part of the test.

"I think its a good thing I got that Moonstone..." Sakura commented, relieved that her gut feeling had been right.

"I also collected the picture of Itachi's lover. I shall offer it as our prize and then return it to him." Sai said simply. He didn't understand the emotions behind it, but he knew they were important. Sasuke's grateful smile confirmed to Sai that he had done a good thing.

The Mission Desk had been set up inside a small tent with silencing seals on the inside, so that other teams couldn't spy on another team's report. The Genin began to form lines to get in, while many others frantically ran back to the Towers to try and get something. Naruto spotted Team 8 lining up a little ahead of them, and he also noticed Team 10 and Team Guy lining up behind them. Even the two Sand Teams and Killer Bee's Teams were in the line. Since each team had to give a faux report with their item, the line moved fairly slowly, with many Teams coming out of the tent looking satisfied, while others looked angry and raced off. A few had emerged looking disheartened, only to look to the slowly setting sun and simply shrug and give up. Those Teams annoyed Naruto; if there was still time, they should at least try! Even if failure is almost certain, a Ninja doesn't just give up.

Team 12 had lined up before Team 7, so they had been admitted into the tent before them. Behind the Mission Desk was Itachi and the two Chunin from before, whom sat waiting for their report. Sai, Haku and Fu gave their reports of what happened in their towers, and Sai placed the photo in front of Itachi. The man's eyes widened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

"What is this and why was it worth recovering?" Itachi asked. It was a fairly standard question for this sort of thing, but it did sound strange when all three Genin knew that Itachi knew EXACTLY what that item was…

"This Picture is of a deceased person placed in a shrine. The person likely holds importance to the Tower's Master, and could potentially be used to identify people whom are related to, or knew the person and may possess useful information on the Tower's Master." Sai explained. Itachi exchanged looks with the Chunin, whom seemed satisfied with the response.

"Very good. Genin Team 12, you have passed the first part of the Survival Exam and are permitted to participate in the second." Itachi said, discreetly pocketing the picture while pulling out a small padlock key and a white scroll with the Kanji for Heaven on it. "The Exam will begin at Midnight, so prepare. Keep that scroll hidden and do not, under any circumstances, open it. Your Entrance Gate is Gate 13 and an explanation of the Exam will be given at 11:55pm."

Sai put the scroll in his pouch and memorised Itachi's orders before leaving the tent with a smiling Fu and Haku following close behind. The girls winked to their boyfriends on Team 7, making them both smile. "Looks like Team 12 is in. Now its our turn." Sasuke said as they entered the tent.

Their report was much the same as Team 12, since they had teamed up with them, but they naturally included details more relevant to themselves while mostly keeping quiet about their partners actions. Itachi and the Chunin nodded along, occasionally making a subtle smile or writing something down, but mostly they remained silent and stoic. Finally, when it came time to exchange what they'd found, Sakura put forward the Moonstone.

"What is this and why was it worth recovering?" Itachi asked.

"This Moonstone was spoken of frequently and fondly by the Treasurer of the Yellow Tower. He held it in high regard, even when he worked with more valuable items frequently. This suggests it holds sentimental value and could potentially be used as leverage to manipulate the Treasurer into approving and overlooking transactions that support out interests, while slowing down and informing us of those transactions that could be trouble." Sakura explained.

Sasuke caught on fairly quickly and nodded along, while Naruto just tried not to look confused. He wasn't stupid, but he admitted his teammates were smarter and better suited to that sort of trickery. His form of trickery was more mischievous and slapstick. Regardless, Itachi seemed satisfied. "Well done. Genin Team 7, you have passed the first part of the Survival Exam and are permitted to participate in the second." Itachi handed another White Heaven Scroll to Sakura. He then gave them the same spiel as he gave Team 12, though their Entry Gate was Gate 9 (a genuine coincidence, Itachi assured them). As the team turned to leave, Itachi stopped them.

"Wait a moment. Sakura, come here." he said, beckoning the girl over to him. Sakura obediently approached, whereupon Itachi placed a small rope necklace around her neck which had a pendant in the shape of the Uchiha Crest, with the Moonstone in the centre. "Sasuke would not have recognised it alone, but that Moonstone and this necklace was given to my former lover by myself, right before we both became Chunin. Take it, as a token of good luck."

Sakura beamed and momentarily her surroundings, leaping up to hug Itachi. "Thank you so much! I'll treasure it!"

"I know you will. Just be sure to treasure my Little Brother even more. And be sure to keep an eye on this one too." Itachi ruffled Naruto's hair. "He may not be my blood, but he's more family than my actual Clan was."

"Hehe, thanks Itachi-nii-san. You're definitely the coolest of my brothers! Just don't tell Kakashi that I said that!" Naruto grinned.

Itachi chuckled then turned to Sasuke, "And you, my precious brother… the Forest is a dangerous place and I loathe to send you in there, but I know that with Naruto and Sakura at your side, you will conquer this challenge. Please be safe; you and mother are all I have left, and I would sooner die than see you hurt."

Sasuke nodded, trying not to let himself tear up. He was a Ninja! A Chunin hopeful! He needed to be strong. Turning Itachi's heartfelt words into the fuel that burned in his heart, Sasuke looked up with that fire in his eyes. "Don't worry brother, I'll conquer that forest, become a Chunin and restore honour to the Uchiha Name."

Itachi smiled again and poked Sasuke's forehead, "I know you will. Now, Genin Team 7; you are dismissed."

The three Genin nodded and bowed before leaving; even more motivation to succeed now pushing them forward. They walked to Gate 9, which was one of the 44 Gates into the forest, and found Team 8 standing around nearby, having been assigned to Gate 8 (again, an apparent coincidence).

"Alright! Looks like we'll be starting the Exam together." Kiba shouted, as he saw Team 7 approach, "With you guys working with us, we'll blast through the competition."

"Fu's Team is also close. They are four gates to the east." Shino said simply. His bugs had obviously warned him.

"Good, then our teams should be able to work together!" Naruto grinned. Sasuke however, shook his head in disagreement.

"Actually, I think we should only travel together for a short time. If the nine of us are grouped together, we'll be a massive target for the enemy, and if we stumble into a trap, we'll all be taken out with no one to come help us." Sasuke explained.

Naruto and Kiba exchanged looks of disappointment, but they ultimately shrugged and decided to leave the strategy to Shino and Sasuke. Those two were the strategists, though they occasionally asked Sakura for her input if they lacked the knowledge of certain things, such as indigenous plants or creatures within the Forest. Sakura didn't know a huge amount, but she knew enough to fill in the gaps in Sasuke and Shino's plans. And so, Sundown came and the First part of the Survival Exam was ended, sending many Genin into depression and anger at their failure while many others became anxious about the next part of the Exam. Team 7 and Team 8 spent the hours until midnight talking, strategising and resting for the upcoming trials, until finally, 11:55PM came and the speakers along the forest fence sparked to life, with Itachi's voice coming through.

"Alright Genin, the second part of the Survival Exam is about to begin. The Exam is simple; at the centre of this large forest is a tower, similar to the ones you were in earlier. Your goal is to reach the tower within Five Days, while carrying both a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll. Each Team that passed to this point has been given one of these scrolls and in order to obtain the other, you must take it from another Team. The scrolls MUST NOT be opened before reaching the tower, under any circumstances. Also, all three members of a team must reach the tower together and alive. If one member of the team is killed or unable to continue, the whole team will fail. At a certain point in the exam, we will send in several Chunin and a handful of Jonin to act as enemies and obstacles for you to overcome. If you are captured by them, you fail. Once you enter the forest, death is a possibility and you cannot leave without passing the test or being captured, so be prepared! The Exam will begin in three minutes."

The speakers turned off and the sounds of several distant Genin shouting in outrage or disbelief filled the night. Team 7 gulped, but shook off their nerves and prepared themselves; they had already been in a Life or Death situation before, so they weren't afraid. Team 8 was another story though; all three of them were afraid. It wasn't obvious, but those that knew them could see the signs. Shino looked the same as always, but his bugs were acting erratically, while Akamaru was whining inside Kiba's shirt, where Kiba was subconsciously playing with the puppy's ears. Hinata was the most obvious, as she hugged herself a bit, but a reassuring look from Naruto helped ease her worry.

"BEGIN!" Itachi's voice came again, and instantly, Sasuke and Shino darted forward and opened their gates before leading their team into the forest. Since the two teams were at neighbouring gates, they quickly met up beyond the thickly wooded entrance of the forest and began moving eastward to meet up with Team 12, so they could share their strategy. The clashing of weapons, the ripping of flesh and screams of anguish were already beginning to echo across the forest as other teams attacked those that entered near them. Naruto shuddered, as his superior hearing allowed him to detect every single cry of pain and crack of bone… one unlucky team had started the test next to a Giant Tiger Den and was being messily devoured by the beast…

" _This is the dark side of the Ninja… Nothing prepares you for this..."_ he thought solemnly as he cut the chakra flow to his ears, which reduced his hearing to normal human levels. It put him at a bit of a disadvantage, but it was better than hearing those awful sounds.

Sasuke signalled for both teams to stop, so the six genin immediately leapt into the trees and stayed there, silently searching for what had alerted Sasuke. They soon found the source; it was Team 12, and they were being confronted by another Team! And not just any team… the Team from Waterfall.

"Its those jerks we caught beating up Fu when we first arrived in Waterfall." Naruto growled. Sasuke and Sakura had known this, but Team 8 hadn't and now they were joining Team 7 in their glaring.

"Should we help them?" Hinata asked.

"No. They aren't very strong. We'll hang back and watch, to make sure no one else interferes." Naruto said, knowing how much Fu wanted to crush the foolish Waterfall Genin.

Down on the forest floor, Fu could scarcely believe her luck! Not only was the team she most wanted to beat facing her, but they also had the scroll she needed! The blue, Earth Scroll was being held by Daiki, whom was brazenly waving it around.

"This fool thinks we aren't a threat." Sai said, looking rather unimpressed.

"Tch, if you are the only ones they could find to join that monster's team, then they're obviously scraping the bottom of the barrel!" Daiki yelled, making Fumihiro laugh and Noriko frown. Fu smirked at the girl on the opposing team; Noriko was the only one in a battle stance or with a weapon drawn… for all her faults, at least she was smart enough to know Fu was a genuine threat to them.

Fu turned to Sai and Haku and grinned at them, "I'm going to get that scroll. Please wait here, I won't be long."

Sai and Haku both gulped; Fu was grinning, but behind that grin was a clear message; Don't Interfere while she beat the crap out of these idiots!

"Don't underestimate us, you demon bitch!" Fumihiro yelled, charging at Fu with a freshly drawn Kunai. Fu just smirked and sidestepped his swing, grabbing his bandanna as he sailed straight past him, then kicked him in the back of the head so he landed face first in the mud of the forest. Angered to see his friend treated in such a way, Daiki summoned a massive Kanabo war club and swung it at Fu with all his strength. Fu jumped up and landed on the club, holding on tight with her chakra as Daiki tried to crush her or knock her off. All the while, she grinned like a mad woman and when Fumihiro finally got up, she threw his bandanna into Daiki's face, causing him to swing blindly and smack Fumihiro into a nearby tree, breaking the bark and several of the bully's ribs.

"Oh shit!" Daiki exclaimed as he saw what he'd done, but it was too late, Fu was already high in the air and preparing the finishing blow.

"Take this, you cocky bastard!" she yelled, before performing a heel drop on the boy's head, knocking the boy completely senseless and leaving him to crumple to the ground unconscious. Fu panted a bit, but looked down at her handiwork with pride; it wasn't as cruel or sadistic as they deserved, but Fu didn't want that kind of revenge; she just wanted to remind the two bullies that they were far below her, even without her Jinchuriki powers.

Noriko watched with fear as Fu picked up the Earth Scroll from were Daiki had dropped it, momentarily making eye contact with the Jinchuriki. Fu's eyes dared her to do something to stop her, but in the end, Noriko was a coward. She had always followed the crowd and done as she was told with no will of her own; never fighting directly or without help from others, and now that her only back up was lying bruised and drooling on the floor, she could only cower.

"I'll spare you, if only because it would make me the bully to beat you at this point." Fu said, tossing the Earth Scroll to Haku, whom sealed it inside one of her mirrors, "But you better start thinking and fighting for yourself, or you won't last long."

Noriko could do nothing but lower her head in shame. She didn't dare raise it again as Team 12 walked leisurely out of the clearing and directly below where the Leaf Teams were watching. Once they had some distance from the crushed Waterfall Team, Naruto and the others dropped down to greet them.

"Well, that certainly went well." Sakura said, feeling a big uncomfortable. Noriko had reminded her a bit of how she had once been, and it was an unwelcome feeling.

"You did amazing Fu! You really kicked those bastards' asses!" Naruto cheered, making Fu blush a little and grin wider.

"Yeah! Now that I've beaten them, they won't be able to say anything against me now. Have you guys gotten your scrolls yet?" Fu asked.

Sasuke shook his head, "Not yet. We came straight to you. We were going to include you in our plan, but if you already have a scroll, we'll need to rethink that."

"We can still help. Why don't we clear a path from here to the Tower? Make sure it isn't full of traps or enemies? Then when you guys are done hunting for your scrolls, you'll have a safe passage to the tower." Haku offered.

Shino nodded. "I will place a female beetle here so we can navigate back here. Fu, please keep another one with you, so we can find you if we need assistance." he said, releasing two small black beetles from his coat. One burrowed underground at his feet and the other crawled between the plate and fabric of Fu's headband.

"Got it. We'll get to work! It'll probably take us a day to get to the tower, so we should be there by tomorrow evening. If you get your scrolls before then, come and find us!" the green haired girl said. She quickly gave Naruto a peck on the cheek before running off into the forest, with Sai and Haku hot on her heels.

Hinata giggled at the blushing Naruto before Sasuke brought their attention back to the task at hand. "Well, we have a path to the Tower, now we just need to collect our scrolls. Speaking of which..." Sasuke looked to Shino, "What scroll do you guys have?"

Shino formed a hand signal, signifying Heaven, while Sasuke returned the same signal. They were confident there were no enemies nearby, but they didn't know the abilities of the other teams, so it was best not to risk it. Since both teams needed the same scroll, it was decided that they would work together to get them both. Nine Genin was too large a group, but Six was easier to manage, plus Naruto could call on Team 12 by using his mental link with Chomei.

With that, they began to enact their plan, which was essentially; Act like dumb Genin to lure others into thinking they are easy targets. The six of them walked leisurely through the woods, talking amongst themselves and acting oblivious to their surroundings. What the casual observer wouldn't notice was that all Six were actually on guard; Sasuke and Hinata would periodically activate their Dojutsu to scan the area, while Kiba and Naruto kept their noses and ears finely tuned to even the slightest sounds. Not only that, but Shino was using his insects to communicate with the indigenous bugs of the forest and learn the locations of nearby people and creatures, so that he might subtly lead the team away from the creatures and towards the people. Only Sakura was unable to do much, since she lacked the enhanced detection abilities of the others, but she instead busied herself by carefully memorising their path and noting the locations of plants that might be useful for medicine or food should their supplies run out.

Their plan was a good one, but for some reason it didn't attract other Genin. Whenever Shino would steer the group towards an enemy team, that team would suddenly retreat or be driven off, and many of the creatures he detected either fled or were killed by something lurking in the trees.

Sasuke signalled to Naruto, whereupon the blond boy put on a show of angrily screaming and stomping about in frustration. While this was going on, Sasuke was able to speak with Shino without alerting any watchers.

"What's happening out there?" Sasuke asked.

"My insects are telling me that an unusual animal is killing other creatures and scaring away the other teams." Shino informed him.

"What? What kind of animal?" Sasuke's question was answered not by Shino, but by the beast itself.

A massive burst of smoke shot out of the ground like a geyser, and from the smoke came a massive, white scaled snake. The Snake's body was twice as thick as the surrounding trees, and many, many times longer. It coiled itself around the two teams, hissing and occasionally striking at them in such a way as to force them to huddle together.

"What the hell is this thing!? Are their snakes like this in the forest normally!?" Kiba yelled, Akamaru barking beside him.

"This snake does not live here. The insects claim it appeared from nowhere." Shino said, readying a cloud of his parasitic beetles.

"It must be a summon animal!" Naruto yelled, searching the area with his chakra in the hopes of finding the summoner. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not sense anything other than his friends and the snake itself… "I can't find the Summoner. We'll need to kill the snake to escape." Naruto concluded, slipping on his metal claws to further enhance his fighting skills. Kiba did the same and the other Genin drew their weapons as well, but they never got a chance to use them.

A sinister chuckle began to reverberate through the forest, seemingly coming from the White Serpent… and not just its mouth, but its entire body was emitting the sound. "Kukuku, so impressive. Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga… your names are well known among the ninja of the village… they call you the start of the Golden Generation. I wonder how accurate that is…?" said a slimy voice. Each syllable was drenched in a gleeful cruelty, as if they were blades bathed in venom, and they paralysed the Genin with fear. Even Akamaru and the usually indomitable Naruto were shaking, their bestial instincts roaring out in their minds, telling them to flee the evil thing that surrounded them.

"But alas, I seem to have caught a couple of spares. I have no use for them..." the voice came again.

"Kiba, Shino! RUN!" Naruto roared as the massive serpent whipped its head around to face Hinata's teammates. The Snake almost sunk its fangs into them, but the young Nine Tails was able to grab Shino with his tails and Kiba with his chains, before throwing them into the distance to hopefully escape and survive their encounter with the Evil creature.

"Kukuku, so caring and considerate, Naruto-kun." the voice took on an almost sing-song tone. "Now, I have a special present for you four… think of it as a gift, and a door to greater heights."

Naruto scowled, but his attention was suddenly forced to Sakura as she let out a blood-chilling scream. Wrapped around her arm was a much smaller, white snake which had sunken its fangs into her wrist, infecting her with something that caused immense pain. Sasuke was the next to scream as a similar serpent appeared on his back and bit into the nape of his neck. The Fox Boy caught on quick and turned to Hinata to try and protect her, but he was too late, as she too was bitten by a snake, whose fangs had pierced her cheek. Naruto felt his heart stop; all his friends were gone or rendered unconscious by the serpents… were they going to die? Was it a lethal venom or something else? His last thoughts were off saving his friends, before he too felt the sting of a snake bite on his throat. White hot pain ripped through him and his body convulsed so hard he couldn't even scream as the anguish running through his veins forced him into a dark and tormented sleep.

The Serpent looked at the four for a moment before looking around at the forest. It could sense Kiba and Shino running back to save their comrades, but the snake did not care… it had completed its task. The beast's shape began to twist and morph until it took on the shape of a man, with pale white skin, long black hair, sinister yellow eyes and a cloak decorated with Blood Red Clouds.

Orochimaru, in all his evil glory, stood before the unconscious Genin and smirked. "Let us see how many of you survive...and if you do, I will be waiting to feed your lust for power!" he laughed, before sinking into the ground and vanishing from the forest. Shino and Kiba arrived on the scene a moment later, but all they found were their friends and comrades unconscious. They were all unwounded, aside from the tiny puncture marks from the Snake fangs...and the sinister black seals left on their bodies.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Another slightly longer one! Next Chapter will have how Naruto deals with the Cursed Seals on him and his friends.**

 **What did you guys think about the chapter? I wanted to add a little bit of bonding with Itachi, since he hasn't been around much.**

 **Also, I hope you guys aren't disappointed with the very short fight between Fu and the Waterfall Genin. It was never meant to be a serious fight, just to show how much stronger Fu was compared to them, and for her to get some revenge in the form of a one-sided beat down.**


	31. Chunin Exams: Chapter 6

**AN:**

Now we see how things go for Naruto and his friends now that they have been infected with the Cursed Seals

 **Next Chapter is another long one, so it will be released in one week on Wednesday 1st of March**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 6: CURSES AND BLESSINGS**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _The Serpent looked at the four for a moment before looking around at the forest. It could sense Kiba and Shino running back to save their comrades, but the snake did not care… it had completed its task. The beast's shape began to twist and morph until it took on the shape of a man, with pale white skin, long black hair, sinister yellow eyes and a cloak decorated with Blood Red Clouds._

 _Orochimaru, in all his evil glory, stood before the unconscious Genin and smirked. "Let us see how many of you survive...and if you do, I will be waiting to feed your lust for power!" he laughed, before sinking into the ground and vanishing from the forest. Shino and Kiba arrived on the scene a moment later, but all they found were their friends and comrades unconscious. They were all unwounded, aside from the tiny puncture marks from the Snake fangs...and the sinister black seals left on their bodies._

 **XOXOXOX**

Kiba grumbled and growled to himself as he walked around the small clearing outside their camp site. He had done this a hundred times now and each time, his worry and irritation would slowly grow. Shino was keeping his senses focused to communicate with the insects around the camp, while Akamaru was watching over their four unconscious friends.

It had taken a lot for the two boys to find a suitable place to make camp, while dragging their comatose friends along with them. Shino had carried Hinata and Sakura while the physically stronger Kiba carried Naruto and Sasuke. They had tried to treat their wounds, but all they could do was patch the snake bites and apply a general anti-venom injection they took from Sakura's tool pouch. Now they lay in the hollow of a long dead tree as their still active teammates watched over them. Shino had sent insects to try and summon Fu back to help them, but the girl and her team were already inside the tower and were not allowed to leave.

"This whole test has gone to shit!" Kiba yelled, his irritation boiling over as he kicked a rock into the bushes.

"We must keep our cool, Kiba. Anger will not help us. We only need to wait for Hinata and Team 7 to regain consciousness." Shino replied, maintaining his composure. He was rarely emotional, but the Aburame was admittedly finding it hard to stay professional, especially with the unsettling seals on their friends.

Each of their injured friends had a strange black seal on them, which drove Akamaru and Shino's insects mad with fear. They wouldn't approach the seals at all, and even the boys felt uncomfortable getting near them. Naruto had a large seal shaped like a Black Snake forming a collar-like tattoo around his neck, and the young Tailed Beast seemed to be having a nightmare...but at least he was showing signs of life. Sasuke's mark was three black Tomoe on the nape of his neck, making it resemble a Sharingan without the pupil. He was completely unresponsive, though he was breathing, so at least he didn't look ready to die, but the seal would occasionally flashing purple and whenever it did, Sasuke would grimace before relaxing again. Sakura seemed to have it the easiest of the four; she had a snake tattoo on her wrist, similar to Naruto's, but it wasn't acting up at all, and if it weren't for the fact that Shino couldn't wake her, he'd just assume she was sleeping.

But then there was Hinata…

Hinata was seriously ill. She had the same mark as Sasuke, but it was in the centre of her forehead and was permanently purple and leaking dark chakra. Whatever the seal was, it was causing Hinata to become feverish, as her skin went pale and ice cold, while her face itself seemed to be boiling as her cheeks were bright red and her forehead was so hot she was practically steaming. Her teammates had needed to wrap her body in all the blankets and spare clothes they had (both boys had given up their jackets) while also applying cold rags to her head in the hopes of balancing out her temperature. It seemed to work, but her breathing was still ragged and her sweet face was contorted with pain.

If she didn't get help soon, she would die…

"The only plan we have now is to wait for those Chunin and Jonin pursuers to arrive and allow ourselves to be caught. Then they can take these four to hospital where they can be saved." Shino said, repeating what he had already said several times before.

"Yeah...and lets hope no strong teams run into us while we're here. We can take out an average team with just the two of us, but against a great team..." Kiba shuddered. He was beginning to really freak out inside; he never imagined he could potentially lose not just his teammate but also his other friends, but here they were, unconscious, unresponsive and slowly dying. The Inuzuka growled again and clenched his first. No, he couldn't think like that! Hinata and the others would live, even if they failed the exam! They would not die! Not on Kiba's watch!

 **[Inside Naruto's Soul]**

Naruto did not know how much time had passed since appeared in this strange place. He didn't even know where he was...but he did know he wanted to get out, and soon. His surroundings were a dark, damp sewer with filthy stagnant water slowly flowing in from behind barred windows. No light came through these windows, only more water.

And snakes...always the snakes.

Hundreds of thousands of the creatures were here, filling the water, covering the walls and all of them biting and snapping at Naruto, whom tried desperately to escape by slogging through the knee-high water. He couldn't call on his chakra, he had no weapons or tools and more importantly, he was alone… alone with the snakes.

The serpents were all identical in every aspect; the same length, the same black scales and the same red eyes that shone like Rubies in the dim corpse light of the sewer. All the snakes were identical, all except one that had wrapped itself around Naruto's throat, just tight enough to be uncomfortable without choking him. This snake was pure white with purple eyes, and strangely, it whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Just let loose and kill them all..."

"I can't! I haven't got my chakra!" Naruto yelled.

"You can do it… you aren't alone..."

"Of course I am! It's just me here! Me and these damned snakes!" Naruto shouted, desperately ripping off some more of the slithering reptiles that had crawled into his clothes.

"I am here… let me help you… trust in me, I will give you power..."

"I don't want your power! I'm not going to be turned into a monster!" Naruto cried, pain running through him as a dozen more serpents stabbed their fangs into him.

"They call you a monster anyway… you have the power, you fight for them, but they will never respect you. But I'm here… I'm your friend… trust me, and I will lend you all the power you could ever want..."

Naruto growled and tried to grab the white snake, but it slipped through his grasp, seemingly bending and morphing around his fingers like smoke. The creature tightened its grip on his throat and its whisper turned harsh, "Why do you resist me? All I offer is power...the power to save yourself, save your friends and save your village… I can give you more power than anyone else...you just need to let me in...listen to my voice, follow it, and you will become something greater than a human or a Tailed Beast… you can become a God!"

"SHUT UP!" Naruto roared, shutting his eyes tight and desperately clawing at his throat. Each time his fingers slipped through the serpent and each time it's hold grew tighter until Naruto could barely breath, but still Naruto clawed.

"If you will not accept me… then just die...fade away into the abyss, your soul will be food for the snakes!"

The snake tightened itself even harder and Naruto could no longer breath. He tried desperately, but his windpipe was crushed by the snake and he still could not pull the snake away. More of the Black snakes were biting him now, and he could feel their poison slowly melting his body away. Pain and suffocation overcame him, and the world seemed to go white.

" **Is this the power of the Nine Tails? Is this the power of my Successor!?"**

Naruto's eyes snapped open and suddenly, he could feel nothing at all. His body was numb and he was floating in a white void, his Nine tails waving behind him. Naruto looked down at himself and saw that he had been transformed into his Full Fox Form, and thankfully, there was no sign of the serpents that had been biting him or the one that had whispered dark things into his ears.

"Where am I?" he asked, searching for the owner of the voice.

" **You are in the Pure Land: the realm of the dead."** The same voice said. It was deep and menacing and send vibrations through Naruto's body with every word. The owner was surely huge and ancient by the sound of his voice, but Naruto also heard something else within the tone… a sense of familiarity.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

The white void shifted into a massive, sunlit forest, where Naruto was able to settle himself on the ground, having grown disoriented from the rapid change of scenery. A rumbling in the distance alerted the boy to an approaching creature, and he turned to see a mighty beast. It was a Fox, much like himself, but hundreds of times larger and with dull orange fur and black markings stretching from his eyes to his ears. The Fox had Nine, monstrously long tails and looked down at Naruto like he was someone far beneath him, but also with some amount of affection, almost like a stern parent. **"I am Kurama! I am the Mighty Nine Tailed Fox! Or at least I was, until you came along."**

Naruto's mouth hung open and his ears and tails drooped as he looked at the beast before him and subconsciously compared himself to it. While Naruto's full Fox form was the size of the average two story house, Kurama was the size of most Hidden Villages! Even the Leaf, which was massive compared to other villages, would seem like a play pen to a fox of that size. Kurama gave a foxy grin as he saw the wheels turning behind Naruto's eyes and repressed a laugh when Naruto suddenly began freaking out, "WAIT! You said this is the Pure Land!? So I'm dead!?"

" **No, you aren't dead Kit. I merely summoned your mind through the seal my father placed on you. Did those old men of the Leaf never tell you about that?"**

Naruto frowned and thought about it. He had been told everything regarding his parents, how he came to be a Tailed Beast and even about the fool who had tried to assassinate him, but this was the first he was hearing about any seal. The young fox looked up to his elder and shook his head. Kurama sighed, **"Damned Humans… can't trust them to do anything right! Well then, I will explain it. My father, the Sage of Six Paths, used his spirit to place a seal on you that would allow you to communicate with me. The seal will cause your body and soul to go on autopilot while your mind is summoned to me so that we can speak. It is an ancient power that only my father wields! Not even you Uzumaki can make a seal that summons the mind to another world."**

"So I can talk to you whenever I want?" Naruto asked, trying to process things. Kurama gave a simple nod. "Awesome! So you are Kurama...I guess I should call you Kurama-nii-san, right?"

Kurama smirked, **"Whatever floats your boat Kit. But I didn't call you here for a family reunion! I called you here because I'm pissed!"** he suddenly roared, **"You let that snake, Orochimaru, infect you with a Cursed Seal! Now its trying to devour your Human Soul!"**

"Wait, does that mean it could kill me? Like, permanently kill me!?" Naruto asked, becoming worried.

" **Not exactly… You are only Half Human, so if the Cursed Seal destroys your Human Soul, your Tailed Beast Side will use its power to replace it. You'd live, but you'd be a TRUE Tailed Beast. You'd no longer be human, and you'd never be able to regain your humanity. The Old Man wanted you to be the bridge that unites Humans and Tailed Beasts, so I couldn't sit back and watch that happen."**

Naruto nodded and continued to look amazed at Kurama. To think, one day, he might look like that! Would he get that big if he was part Human? Or would he get even bigger? Still, Naruto had to make sure he actually got to grow up before he could think about that. "So, what do I do? That Snake got me and my friends before I could do anything about it!"

" **The Cursed Seal is a combination of Fuinjutsu and various Forbidden Arts. Each one is full of Orochimaru's evil chakra and it will slowly spread and infect the host like a cancer. Back when I was inside your mother, I learned a lot about sealing, and my father has filled in the remaining details."** Kurama explained, lying down lazily.

"So can you give me the power to erase it?" Naruto asked.

" **No. You already have the power, what you lack is the knowledge. The place you were in before is a representation of your soul, and the snakes were the infection of the Cursed Seal. As it is your soul, you can control everything there with just a little bit of my chakra. But simply controlling your soul to expel the Cursed Seal will not work alone; you need to destroy the Seal's focal point, which is a piece of Orochimaru's own soul."**

Naruto growled. "The White Snake… Orochimaru has been trying to tempt me into using the Cursed Seal's power. He wants to turn me and the others into his servants!"

" **He is. That man is notorious within the Pure Lands as a being who will not allow the dead to know peace. His destruction is highly desired by the Shinigami and the spirits of the deceased. I'd guess he wants the Eyes of the Uchiha and your little Mate. And he also seems to want something from the Haruno girl, but I don't know what. Still, with my knowledge, I can help you free your friends."** Kurama said, growling a bit at the memory of Orochimaru. That snake had always been twisted, and he despised that such a creature was helping to target his younger siblings.

Naruto was equally angry; how dare that pale faced freak try and hurt his friends!? He would pay for that, even if Naruto had to carve out every single piece of his soul and destroy it himself. Still, every moment Naruto's mind was with Kurama, his soul and his friends were still in danger, so the Fox Boy looked up to his elder, "I need to get back to my world! Can you send me back?" he asked urgently.

Kurama nodded and scratched open a hole in the ground, which formed into a portal. **"Leap through here and your mind will return to your body and soul. I will keep the portal open for a bit so that I may instruct you in saving your friends, but be warned, my voice will fade before long, so act quickly and with cunning, the way a true Fox would!"**

Naruto nodded and leapt into the portal. A strange feeling of vertigo filled him and there was a nauseating pulse that shook through his body as he plummeting from the Pure Lands back to the confines of his body and soul. Gravity suddenly shifted and Naruto momentarily lost all his senses before snapping awake back in that dirty, infested sewer. Naruto scowled as he once again felt the biting of the black snakes and the strangling hold of the White Snake, which had been identified as a piece of Orochimaru's soul.

The Foxy boy scowled and reflexively tried to claw at the creature, but managed to catch himself. Now that he knew this place was his soul, he felt a greater level of control, to the point where he could numb the pain of the fangs and breath despite his crushed windpipe. Cautiously, he reached out with his thoughts to try and speak with Kurama. He felt his thoughts connect with the giant fox, as if the two were shaking hands and smiled as the mighty beast's voice filled his ears and blocked out the incessant whispering of the snake.

" **Alright, you have already adapted thanks to the knowledge I imparted. Now it is time to purge this filth from your soul! Call upon your chakra and burn the snakes away!"** Naruto obediently reached out to try and grasp his chakra, but just as before, it would not come. **"No Kit, you are still calling on your chakra like a Human! Listen, you are a Tailed Beast! You do not coax and direct your chakra, you command it! You ARE Chakra given form and will! Do not ask for it to come to you, demand it to come forward and heed your words as if it were an arm or tail!"**

Naruto nodded and tried again. He tried to move the chakra like it was a part of his body, but he only ended up moving an arm or leg and even that was a struggle with the deluge of snakes covering him. After a few moments (in which Naruto could sense Kurama holding in some sort of snarky comment) the young fox tried something different. He tried to imagine that he was breathing fire, and that his breath and blood were chakra and that he could control them by focusing hard. He took deep breaths that brought air all the way to his core (and loosened the snake around his throat) and the expelled it, bringing forth not the fire he had imagined, but raw chakra. And just like that, it clicked within him. He could once again feel chakra raging through him and it obeyed his every whim, moving as if it were just another part of his body.

Naruto grinned widely, "Now its my turn to deal out the pain, you scaly freaks!" he yelled, before coating his body in chakra and expelling the snakes away from him. Even the white snake was flung from his body, where it tried to hide amongst its duller coloured brethren, but Naruto was not about to let his prey escape. Blue chakra flames burst from his body and quickly engulfed the sewer, melting the brick work and evaporating the water until all that could be seen was magma, steam and the charred remains of a million snakes. From this carnage, trees began to grow, until the world inside Naruto's Soul looked just like Kurama's little corner of the Pure Land.

And just like that, Naruto stood alone in the woods, staring down at the singed form of Orochimaru, whom was in his true, human form as opposed to a snake form. The Fox Boy looked at the Snake Man with critical eyes, carefully examining every aspect of him and preparing for even the slightest attempt to attack. He wore a black cloak covered in the same red clouds that Naruto had seen on the back of Kushimaru, and the sight of them sent Naruto's mind reeling back to the tall swordsman's final words… Akatsuki…

"You're Orochimaru, the traitor of the Sannin! You're the one who made the Cursed Seals and put one on Kushimaru, aren't you!? You're with the Akatsuki!" Naruto marched forward and lifted the snake man into the air with one his tails, but he did not react.

"Kukuku, how interesting. I knew tempting you with a Curse Mark would probably fail, but I like to think of myself as a Scientist… I had to know for certain!" Orochimaru laughed, uninterested in the tail at his throat or the claws that were poised to destroy this portion of his soul.

Naruto growled and smacked the man into the ground head first before pulling him back up again. Orochimaru was unfazed. "What do the Akatsuki want with the Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts!? And why did you attack my friends!"

Orochimaru gave another one of his creepy laughs. "Ah, Naruto-kun, why would I ever tell you such a thing? It would ruin the surprise! Now, I must bid you goodbye. If this piece of my soul cannot subjugate you, I will have to discard it."

Before Naruto could do anything, Orochimaru's form began to melt into a puddle of white and purple slime, which evaporated into nothing the moment it touched the ground. Naruto growled and cursed loudly as the man quite literally slipped through his grasp. "Damn that snake!" he yelled, slashing at one of the trees that had formed around him, unwittingly slicing the thing in half.

" **Calm yourself Kit. The Snake's true form is out in the Mortal Realm. Nothing you could do to that Soul Fragment would have mattered to the rest of him. Now you need to return to the Mortal Realm yourself and undo his damage to your pack mates."** Kurama's voice echoed in his ears.

"How do I leave here then?" Naruto asked, no longer in the mood to mess around. He wanted to save his friends and put this whole mess behind him.

" **It's fairly simple. Think of yourself as a turtle, like Isobu! Your flesh body is your shell, your soul is inside the shell and your chakra and mind are your true body. To return to the mortal world, you just need to extend your true body out of your shell. Fill your Soul Space with so much chakra that your mind is flung back to your flesh."** Naruto made a strange, twitchy expression as he tried to comprehend Kurama's terrible metaphors… he still didn't really understand the difference between Mind, Body and Soul and which was the real him or if they all were, but there would be time for that later.

Following the only part of Kurama's advice that he understood, Naruto began charging and releasing as much chakra as he could, which spilled from his body like blood from a lethal wound. The chakra became flames and oceans and gales which quickly whipped up Naruto's soul and filled him with something that could barely be described. It was an incomprehensible mix of warmth, fulfilment, determination and power which expanded beyond him until he could feel things beyond his body. He could feel his true form in the Forest of Death, he could feel the bodies of his friends around him and the trees that hid them from the enemy and then suddenly, he woke up.

 **[The Forest of Death]**

Kiba and Shino were, for lack of a better term, freaking the hell out as they watched Naruto begin choking and convulsing in his sleep. Then he suddenly calmed down and whatever nightmare he was experiencing stopped scaring him and starting angering him… finally there was an absurd burst of chakra and the boy shot awake, panting.

"Whoa! Naruto, are you okay!? What happened to you guys!?" Kiba asked. Shino gently took Kiba's shoulder and pulled him back.

"Give him a moment to collect himself." Shino instructed.

"N-No, it's okay… I was bitten by Orochimaru, then I was pulled into the world inside my soul. I think I killed the piece of the Snake that was injected into me..." Naruto panted, adjusting to the feeling of breathing and operating a flesh body again. He felt weird, like his body was a suit that was a size too small, making him feel stiff and clumsy. Kiba and Shino noted that the Black Snake Seal around his throat had vanished without a trace, which gave them a small amount of relief.

If any of their friends would bounce back quickly, it would be Naruto.

"Hey, did whatever that snake do to you wear off? Or did you heal it yourself?" Kiba asked.

"I did it myself. I was able to make contact with the Old Nine Tails, and he walked me through it." Naruto explained. He was just getting himself oriented when he saw Hinata and his blood ran cold. "No! What's happened!?" he yelled, crawling over to her as fast as he could; his legs still not woken up.

"She's been like this for the last hour. We've done what we can, but I fear her life is in danger." Shino said. His voice sounded as mechanical as ever, but Naruto could sense the worry he held.

Naruto scowled and performed **Water Style: Aqua Palm** to coat his hand in water and hold it against Hinata's forehead in an attempt to cool her down, but it didn't seem to have any real effect, though Hinata's face did become calmer and more content at the touch. "Is the Cursed Seal doing this?" Naruto muttered as he looked at the seal on her forehead. He felt bile rise at the back of his throat at the sight of it… Orochimaru had placed it on her forehead to make it resemble the Caged Bird Seal and it invoked a sight that Naruto never wanted to see. "Damn him! Kurama, what do I do!?"

Kurama's voice echoed through his mind again, **"This Cursed Seal is different. It appears to have been a more perfected version of Kushimaru's, using Orochimaru's own chakra instead of Isobu's, but something happened to this seal and it has become severely damaged. The damaged seal is leaking evil chakra into the girl's system and slowly killing her."**

"What? Did Orochimaru mess up when he put the Curse Mark on her? Or is this… oh no!" Naruto ran through some hand signs and tapped Hinata's neck, wrists and ankles to make his own Cursed Seal Rebound appear on her, however it did not appear at all. "T-This is my fault… My Cursed Seal Rebound was powered up to be able to handle the entire Hyuga Council trying to put the Caged Bird Seal on Hinata, but Orochimaru's Curse Mark was able to destroy my seal..."

" **Hmph, do not be surprised. The Hyuga are not known for immense Chakra capacity, and Orochimaru is a very powerful foe."** the Elder Fox said.

"Naruto, what's going on? What's all this about Seals and Rebounds?" Kiba asked. He and Shino had felt relief when Naruto woke up, as he was likely the only one who could save the others, but now that they were seeing him freak out, they were even more afraid for Hinata's life.

"My Cursed Seal Rebound was supposed to reflect any Cursed Seal placed on Hinata… but Orochimaru was too strong. His Cursed Seal destroyed my protection, but it was damaged in the process. Now Orochimaru's broken seal is killing her, and I don't know what to do..." Naruto said, fear and panic building up inside him. He almost wanted to cry and curse his weakness, but he knew that wouldn't help; he need to stay focused for Hinata's sake. "Maybe I could reapply the Rebound? No, it wouldn't work on a seal already in place… Could I absorb the Evil Chakra somehow?"

" **You are a Tailed Beast, so you can absorb chakra to some extent in order to heal your wounds and replenish your energy. It will work to extract the chakra from the girl, but it won't heal her, it'll only stop her getting worse."** Kurama explained.

"Then its a good place to start." Naruto said, new determination swelling up inside his chest. He sat himself next to Hinata's head and knelt down, so his forehead was gently pressing against hers. He could feel the feverish heat coming off her, and if it weren't for his Scorch Nature, he would have felt like it was burning him. Remembering the feeling of filling his own Soul with Chakra, he stretched his power beyond his body and into Hinata, where it began to flow through her and hunt for the evil chakra that had infected her. Hinata's chakra felt like a gentle river, flowing in the breeze, filling Naruto's nose with a sweet smelling wind, like flowers drifting on the breeze and making him tingle all over, like a static shock was running through him. He embraced her chakra with his own and allowed it to lead him where he needed to be, until finally, Naruto felt Orochimaru's chakra.

While Hinata's had been like water in the breeze, Orochimaru's was like turpentine running through mud. It burned his eyes and nose to feel it and filled his mouth with the taste of dirt and rotten meat. It reminded him vaguely of a time in his youth when he had snuck a sip of Grandpa Hokage's imported whiskey… oh how that liquid had burned his throat! And now he was experiencing the same thing, but magnified a thousand fold. "Got you, you son of a bitch!" Naruto grinned as he reinvigorated his chakra and gripped onto Orochimaru's. He began a tug of war with it, but Orochimaru's chakra was much smaller than Naruto's, and he was able to almost completely pull it out. The only stumbling block was when he tried to pull the chakra out of Hinata's body. For some reason, the evil chakra was clinging tightly to her eyes, to the point that Naruto dare not pull too hard in case he damaged them.

" **The snake infected her for her eyes, he won't let them go. If you try to force him out, he'll blind her to ensure she cannot use them against him. It will probably be the same for the Uchiha."** Kurama growled.

"Fine. If I can't pull him out, I'll smother and destroy him on the inside!" Naruto said with a cold grin as he focused his power again. The power stopped pulling against Orochimaru's, and instead began to surround it until Orochimaru's chakra and Soul Fragment were completely encompassed by Naruto's. Once this was done, Naruto's smile widened, "Goodbye, you Snake Freak!" he said as he tightened his chakra around the evil chakra and completely absorbed it; melting it away and adding it to his own reserves, where it was seamlessly transformed into his own chakra.

Naruto relished the pained scream that the Soul Fragment made as it perished; burned to death within his chakra.

" **You did well Kit. If you leave her, she will recover in a few weeks. But if you want, I can show you how to help her now."** Kurama offered. Naruto silently agreed, **"Since you're part Human, you can't be sealed inside a Jinchuriki, however, you can still seal a portion of your chakra into others. If you give her more chakra than she has on her own, she'll become a Pseudo-Jinchuriki, but be warned, this would mean she possessed a portion of your soul."**

Naruto's cold smile from before became warm and gentle. "She already has my heart. A portion of my soul won't hurt." he said, before reapplying his Cursed Seal Rebound and flooding both it and Hinata with his chakra. It was draining, and Naruto felt a sharp pain in his chest when a piece of his soul came away and flowed into his lover, but the pain was soothed when Naruto felt Hinata's own soul reach out and take hold of the fragment, holding it close and safe within her. Her Cursed Seal began to glow white and then burned away in blue, chakra flames, leaving not a trace of its existence. Hinata's sleeping face became peaceful and her temperature began to drop.

" **Good job Kit. Your Mate is safe. Give her a few hours and she'll be back to normal. She is a Pseudo-Jinchuriki now, but since she hasn't got any of your DNA in her or a Sealing Matrix to maintain the chakra, she'll eventually absorb it and convert it into her own Chakra. Beyond that, I can't tell you what's going to happen. The Hyuga are closely related to my Father, so who knows that she could become with your power inside her."** the Old Nine Tails said, smiling to himself as he watched Naruto stroke his lover's hair.

"Its fine. So long as she's alive and well, I don't mind." Naruto smiled, before turning to Shino and Kiba, whom looked equal parts confused and relieved. "She's going to be fine now. Don't worry."

"Good. I suspected you could do it. But Naruto, who were you talking to?" Shino asked, his body loosening up now that the worst had passed.

"Yeah, you've been muttering to yourself this whole time! You got some kind of creature in that head of yours? I'm sure there's plenty of room." Kiba teased. He always turned tense situations into jokes once he'd calmed down. It was his way of playing off what had just happened and ignoring his own fears.

Naruto glared at him, but wasn't in the mood to retort. "I was talking to the Last Nine Tails. He can communicate with me through some kind of seal. Its a long story. But forget it for now, I need to help Sakura and Sasuke." he said, turning towards his own Teammates. Sakura still looked to be only asleep, while Sasuke was frowning in his unconscious state, his face almost stuck in a grimace now that his own Cursed Seal was flashing purple at a rapid rate.

" **Take care of the Girl first. The Uchiha has a more powerful Curse Mark, like your mate's, but it is undamaged like hers was. He will take some time and effort, so deal with the girl."** Kurama instructed him. Naruto bit his lip; he wanted to help Sasuke first, because he actually looked to be suffering while Sakura seemed fine, but he knew that Kurama had bad feelings towards Uchihas, and he wasn't going to risk pissing him off any further by arguing.

"Okay, I'll help Sakura next." Naruto said, moving over to the pink haired girl and gently taking her hand so he could look at the seal on it. "This one feels a bit familiar..." he mumbled.

Shino nodded. "You had the same one, around your neck." he explained. Naruto nodded in understanding and ran his hand over the seal. He could feel the same evil chakra as he'd felt within Hinata and himself, but it seemed...weaker? Less enthusiastic? The actual amount was the same as had been inside him, but the Soul fragment guiding the chakra was much less interested.

"Maybe Orochimaru isn't as interested in Sakura? But then why mark her at all?" Naruto asked.

" **He probably thought marking the whole team would make it easier for you to all go to him. After all, Humans do tend to succumb to Peer Pressure. But I'm not a crazy snake, so I can't be sure."** Kurama said lazily. **"Just load her up with your chakra, smash Orochimaru's soul and move on. I can't keep this mental link up forever!"**

Naruto nodded and began infusing his chakra into the seal. It was remarkably easy compared to his own seal or Hinata's, but it still pulled against him and tried to cling to Sakura's Chakra Network. Naruto sent only a token amount of chakra into her system to pull Orochimaru's chakra together, before he directed it to destroy his soul fragment. To Naruto's surprise, as soon as the Soul Fragment was gone, Sakura own Chakra began to attack Orochimaru's, like White Blood Cells, and began converting the chakra into her own. When the chakra was completely converted, Sakura even began integrating Naruto's chakra, forcing him to cut the connection or risk turning her into a Pseudo-Jinchuriki as well.

The Fox Boy just didn't like the idea of putting a piece of his soul into another person's lover, especially when it was his best friend's lover, even if it made that person stronger. When Naruto pulled his chakra back from Sakura's body, the Black Cursed Seal melted away, like ink on wet paper, leaving Sakura's wrist spotless. Even the small puncture wounds from the snake bite had been completely healed!

"Huh, no wonder Sakura is a natural medic… She heals fast." Naruto commented as he performed a quick field assessment to make sure she was completely fine. This turned out to be unnecessary, as Sakura began to wake up.

"Uh...I feel so sluggish...what happened?" she asked, slowly sitting up with some help from Naruto.

"You were bitten by Orochimaru. He put a Cursed Seal on you, as well as Sasuke, Hinata and myself. I've been able to remove them all so far, but I still need to help Sasuke." Naruto explained, once again casting his only Water Style Jutsu to give Sakura something to drink. She gratefully gulped it down, before shakily getting to her feet.

"Kiba, Shino, are you both alright? Do you need any medical attention?" Sakura asked. Both boys shook their heads, making the Haruno girl sigh with relief. She turned to Hinata and her male teammates and examined them carefully. "Hinata is recovering pretty well! I'm not sure what you did Naruto, but she's healing fast. I'm sorry, but my Medical Jutsu won't be much use here...Can you please help Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto nodded, "Of course. He was the next one I was going to help anyway."

" **You might want to hurry it up. If Orochimaru's Soul is tempting the Uchiha with power, we might not have long to stop it. Uchiha are weak to temptation..."** Kurama said bitterly. Naruto frowned a bit as he knew that the Uchiha had hurt the Fox many times in the past.

"Sasuke and his mom and brother are different. They're good people. Sasuke won't give in!" Naruto said confidently as he sat beside the teammate that he considered like a brother. Kurama sighed from his place in the Pure Land, still feeling a bit bitter over having to help an Uchiha… letting the boy die or be corrupted would be a good revenge against that Accursed Clan, but the old fox couldn't bear to do something that would hurt his younger brother. That thought made Kurama smirk a little… he liked the idea of Naruto as a baby brother.

"Um, Naruto? Who are you talking to?" Sakura asked.

"The Old Nine Tails; Kurama. It's a long story, so I'll leave it until later." Naruto explained as he focused his chakra into the seal on Sasuke's neck.

Almost immediately, a powerful backlash of dark chakra repelled Naruto and sent him flying backward, smacking into the side of the tree they were camped under. Sakura and the Team 8 boys ran to him, and helped him pick himself up. "Naruto! Are you okay!?" Sakura asked, already scanning him with a diagnostic jutsu.

"Ugh, I'm fine… Kurama, what was that?" the boy groaned.

Kurama growled, **"** **It looks like this Cursed Seal is much more powerful than the one placed on you and the Pink Girl. It has been supercharged with Orochimaru's chakra and has layer upon layer of protective and repulsive seals weaved into it. Your Mate's seal was the same, but most of the protection was destroyed by your Cursed Seal Rebound. Sorry to say Kit, but you won't be breaking this one from the outside."**

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

" **You'll need to send your mind into his soul. Once inside, you'll be able to destroy the Orochimaru Soul Fragment and take control of the seal!"** Kurama explained. **"The process is similar to when you entered the inner world of your other Mate, and Sister Chomei. Connect your chakra with his and allow him to lead you into his soul."**

Naruto nodded and turned to his conscious comrades, "I'm probably going to pass out in a minute, but don't worry, I'll be fine!" he said, flashing them his signature foxy grin. Sakura didn't like the idea of her only remaining teammate passing out, but seeing his smile filled her with confidence. If her couldn't save her Sasuke-kun, no one could! She needed to have faith in Naruto.

"Okay. Do what you need to do; we'll defend you!" Sakura declared, unpacking more of her medical provisions and preparing her chakra to perform medical jutsu if needed. Naruto gave a relieved smile and reached his chakra out to Sasuke, though this time he avoided going directly into the Cursed Seal and instead sent his chakra into Sasuke's heart. Like with Hinata, Sasuke's chakra took hold of his and Naruto could feel brotherly affection overcome him as Sasuke's chakra gently lead him into his soul. It was like falling asleep in front of a warm fire while a thunderstorm raged outside and Naruto enjoyed the smell of cedar burning in the flames as he slipped off into unconsciousness.

 **[Inside Sasuke's Soul]**

When Naruto opened his eyes, he growled furiously and clenched his fists. Orochimaru's Soul had twisted the inside of Sasuke's Soul, turning it into a recreation of the Uchiha Massacre. The place was modelled after the Uchiha Clan Compound, and it was currently burning with great billowing plumes of smoke and agony-filled screams filling the air. Naruto had heard the story of the Massacre told from Sasuke's point of view… it had been a long and difficult conversation to have, but Sasuke had insisted after Naruto had revealed the truth about his parentage. Remembering the story, Naruto ran to where he knew Sasuke had been at the beginning; the main street of the compound.

As he had thought, Naruto arrived at the gate to the Uchiha District and found Sasuke, his body returned to that of a young Academy Student, cowering in fear as a pale imitation of Shisui flitted about in front of him, murdering children and elderly people whom all cried out for Sasuke to save them. Even when their corpses touched the ground and their blood poured out, they begged Sasuke to avenge them, and demanded to know why Sasuke had not saved them from their killer. The Fire from the burning compound lit up the blood like oil, and Sasuke was forced to watch the screaming pile of burning corpses twist and turn in agony while trying to pull him into the flames.

The Young Sasuke was breaking down, weeping and shouting in vain for Shisui to stop, all while a tiny white snake whispered dark things in his ear from its perch on his shoulder. Seeing the boy he considered his brother in such a state sent Naruto into a rage, and in a burst of chakra and Killing Intent, he surged forward and caught the Nightmare Shisui, before violently smacking him into the earth and striking him with all nine of his tails, pulverising the fake into nothing but a bloody stain on the stone path.

"N-Naruto!?" Sasuke cried out, shocked from his weeping by the Fox Boy's appearance.

"Sasuke! None of this is real! It's all in your head! The Snake is trying to force you to join him!" Naruto said as he landed beside Sasuke. It was a bit odd for Naruto, as he had always been an inch or two shorter than Sasuke, but now he towered over him just like he did over Konohamaru.

"He lies...the Fox created the turmoil in your family...he led them to their demise. Do not let him fool you..." The Snake said, only for Sasuke to reach back and try to pull the creature off of him.

"No! Naruto wouldn't do that! He's my friend!" Sasuke yelled, aging a bit so he was the same age he had been when he befriended Naruto. The Snake hissed violently and bit into Sasuke's hand to make him let go, but Sasuke just winced and held on tighter, aging again so that he was his normal age. "You've been telling me lies this whole time! You are the one who made me watch this! I swear on the honour of my clan and village, I will hunt you down and bring you to justice for your crimes!" Sasuke roared, his earlier misery evolving into righteous fury. In a last ditch attempt to escape, the snake extended its tail and wrapped it around Sasuke's throat to try and choke him, but Naruto slashed forward with his claws and cut the foul creature in half. It hissed in pain as its tail hit the ground and Sasuke threw the rest of it down to join the dismembered appendage.

"Do you want the honours?" Naruto asked.

"We'll do it together." Sasuke replied. Both boys quickly ran through identical hand signs before shouting in unison **"FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!"** and firing identical sized fire balls from their mouths, which engulfed the creature in flames and incinerated it, leaving not even ash.

"Finally done with the bastard." Naruto sighed, his fatigue from the long day beginning to really get to him.

Sasuke nodded as the world inside his soul began to reshape itself. Naruto had expected the scenery to change to something nicer and more peaceful, like it had done for him, but for some reason, it just distorted and changed colours, to the point where both he and Sasuke thought they were viewing the place through a Kaleidoscope. Naruto was about to ask Kurama about it, when suddenly, black seal formulas appeared from all over the place and lanced out from the walls towards Sasuke, wrapping around him and burning their seals into him.

"GYAAAAAAHHHHH!" Sasuke roared with pain as the seals began their sinister task.

"What's happening!?" Naruto yelled, pulling at some of the seal formulas.

" **Damn it! This must be a part of the Seal's defence mechanism. Without Orochimaru's Soul to act as a Lynch-pin, the seal is going berzerk! The Uchiha's body there is only a representation of his mind, so if it is destroyed, he will live, but he'll become a husk with no mind at all!"** Kurama shouted. He was already pushing himself keeping the audio link up for so long, but he wasn't about to abandon his little brother when he needed him most!

"What do I do!?" Naruto asked desperately.

Kurama thought for a second, **"Can you unravel the seal yourself? You're an Uzumaki right!? You should be able to do something like that!"**

Naruto shook his head. "I don't understand any of these formulas! They're based on Forbidden Fuinjutsu, so I don't know it! Why didn't this happen with Hinata's Seal!?"

" **Hers was damaged, remember!? It was your work that damaged it! Now you need to do something like it again! Focus on the parts of the Seal you recognise and work from there."**

Naruto shakily nodded his head and began to read the seals as fast as he could, trying to piece together the formulas Orochimaru used. It was trying to understand an Ancient Text when he could only read one in every ten words, but luckily, his Uzumaki instincts helped him enough that he could decode the formulas enough to understand at least a quarter of the functions, but that wasn't enough to undo the seal! A portion of the seal was...organic? It felt like some kind of cell structure, similar to what Sakura had told him about enzymes. Seals and Chakra were one thing, but Naruto had no clue what to do here!

"Shit! What do I do!?" he panicked, racking his brain for an answer.

"N-Naruto! Stop panicking! You'll find a way out of this! I know it!" Sasuke said, trying to keep his friend positive even as he himself struggled against the pain of the formulas. He could feel parts of his mind slipping away and becoming foggy, but he clung tight to the memory of his team and family in an attempt to stave off the destruction of his mind.

Sasuke's words helped calm Naruto down, but even when calm, he could not find a solution. He tried desperately and even thought of the idea of absorbing the evil chakra. When that failed due to the chakra repulsing him, he tried to instead replace the chakra with his own, but that took so much energy, he wasn't sure he would be able to keep it up until it was complete. If he passed out part way through the act, Sasuke's mind would be shattered.

"Okay, I need to think this through. Work backwards… the problem is the seal's defences, and they activated because Orochimaru's soul fragment was removed. So if I can't stop or destroy the defences, I need to remove why they're acting in the first place. I have a solution!" Naruto declared, relief in his voice.

"What are you going to do?" Sasuke asked. He was becoming a bit delirious now and he was losing all grip on reality. Much longer and he wouldn't have a mind at all.

"This all happened because we removed Orochimaru's Soul, so we just need to replace it. Luckily, I've already done it once today!" Naruto said, charging up his chakra in preparation. He was going to remove a piece of his own soul and use it as a Lynch-pin to keep the Cursed Seal from harming Sasuke.

With a mighty cry which quickly turned into a roar, Naruto severed another piece of his soul and shoved it into Sasuke's captured form. Sasuke felt incredible warmth and power flowing through his veins as the power of Naruto's Soul coursed through him. The Cursed Seal's tendrils retracted and the Inner world was turned into the inside of Sasuke's own home, complete with the comforting air it always possessed. Naruto smiled and collapsed, his mind no longer able to maintain its connection to Sasuke. The Fox Boy was sent rocketing back to consciousness.

 **[The Forest of Death]**

Naruto awoke with a start, once again finding himself in the Mortal World. He panicked when he realised he'd lost the connection, but quickly calmed down when he saw Sasuke's Curse Mark glowing orange instead of purple.

"It worked… I can fix it now." he said in almost a whisper. He was really on his last legs now… the Written Exam, the Tower Exam and now the Cursed Seals had all been draining him bit by bit, but Naruto was nothing if not tenacious, and he still had a job to do.

"Naruto, I think you should rest a bit. Sasuke isn't in danger any more. My insects say his chakra is normalising." Shino said calmly, trying to pull Naruto back down, but the blond simply pulled away.

"Not yet...I'm not done yet! Orochimaru's Soul Fragment is gone, but his chakra is still inside that Seal! If his chakra overpowers my Soul Fragment, he'll take over Sasuke again, but this time he'll get some of my power too!" Naruto said, panting hard. He was sweating profusely now and actually had to pull off his shirt and reveal his bare torso just to keep himself cool.

" **Naruto, my strength is waning too, and I won't be able to keep this link open for much longer. If the piece of yourself you left inside the Uchiha releases chakra from one side while you release chakra from this side, you might just be able to smother and erase the Snake's chakra. Do this, and the Cursed Seal will become yours!"** Kurama instructed. He didn't tell Naruto, but he was receiving advice himself from his father; the Sage.

Naruto nodded, no longer able to keep his mind coherent on anything but simply solving the problem in front of him. Gently, he placed his palm against Sasuke's Cursed Seal and poured in his chakra. Within the Seal, Naruto's Soul Fragment reacted to its master's will and began pushing out its own chakra. Orochimaru's chakra tried desperately to repel the Golden power of the Nine Tails, but it could not survive an onslaught on both fronts and was quickly overwhelmed and engulfed within Naruto's power, which erased it just as it had done for Sakura and Hinata.

When Naruto pulled his hand away, he looked at what was once the Cursed Seal. It had turned from black to white, and each of the tomoe that made up its design had split into three, smaller tomoe, creating a pattern of Nine, tiny interlocking tomoe. Kurama's Link with Naruto abruptly cut itself off as the Old Fox used up the last of its remaining power.

Naruto sighed with relief, and with his final breath before falling asleep, he uttered the name of his conquered seal; "The Blessed Seal of Heaven."

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **MAN! That was the longest chapter I've ever written! This one took a lot out of me, so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Now, a little explanation of the differences between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata after the ordeal with the Cursed Seals:**

 **NARUTO: No changes in power or anything, but he does now know how to contact Kurama in the Pure Land, how to remove fragments of his soul and he know knows some things about Cursed Seals. Its all just knowledge and learning how to use powers he's always had.**

 **SASUKE: He has the Blessed Seal of Heaven, which can be considered an uncorrupted version of the Curse Mark. Naruto's Soul Fragment controls the Seal itself. Sasuke's new powers and abilities will be expanded on in the future.**

 **SAKURA: She has very little changed about her. The only major difference is that now she has a small wellspring of Naruto's chakra inside her. She can't use it for Jinchuriki abilities, as it has been converted into her own chakra by her slightly unique circumstances (I'll expand on this in the future), so it is merely a more potent form of her own chakra she can use to give herself a temporary boost.**

 **HINATA: Her damaged seal has been completely removed and she has a portion of Naruto's Soul inside her, repairing the damage done by Orochimaru. The Soul Fragment gives her continuous access to Naruto's chakra, making her a Pseudo-Jinchuriki, but exactly how this manifests and what it will do for her will be expanded on in the future.**


	32. Chunin Exams: Chapter 7

**AN:**

After the massive chapter last time, the next couple will be a bit shorter, but don't worry! Their will be plenty of longer chapters to come.

This Chapter will end the Forest of Death part of the Arc, and will give a bit of a spotlight to Kiba and Shino, since they've been a bit neglected so far.

 **Next chapter is normal length so expect it on Monday!**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 7: DUELS IN THE FOREST**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

 _Naruto nodded, no longer able to keep his mind coherent on anything but simply solving the problem in front of him. Gently, he placed his palm against Sasuke's Cursed Seal and poured in his chakra. Within the Seal, Naruto's Soul Fragment reacted to its master's will and began pushing out its own chakra. Orochimaru's chakra tried desperately to repel the Golden power of the Nine Tails, but it could not survive an onslaught on both fronts and was quickly overwhelmed and engulfed within Naruto's power, which erased it just as it had done for Sakura and Hinata._

 _When Naruto pulled his hand away, he looked at what was once the Cursed Seal. It had turned from black to white, and each of the tomoe that made up its design had split into three, smaller tomoe, creating a pattern of Nine, tiny interlocking tomoe. Kurama's Link with Naruto abruptly cut itself off as the Old Fox used up the last of its remaining power._

 _Naruto sighed with relief, and with his final breath before falling asleep, he uttered the name of his conquered seal; "The Blessed Seal of Heaven."_

 **XOXOXOX**

Kiba, Shino and Sakura sat around their small camp fire, watching over their sleeping companions. Sasuke and Hinata were still recovering from their ordeals with the Cursed Seals, while Naruto was so exhausted that he simply couldn't stay awake any longer. He had used a huge amount of chakra and split two fragments of his soul away from himself, not to mention the previous exams they had taken that day, so it was no surprise when the boy finally succumbed to sleep. Sakura occasionally checked on the three sleeping ninja, but there was little she could do, as Hinata was already being healed from the inside out by Naruto's chakra, while Sasuke was being slowly healed by the new Blessed Seal.

It was almost dawn before there was any stirring from the three, and the first to actually awaken was Hinata. The Hyuga Heiress groaned quietly as she tried to sit up, with Sakura quickly moving to help her.

"Hinata! I'm glad you're awake! How are you feeling?" she asked as Shino and Kiba quickly moved to their team mate's side.

"I-I'm fine, I think. I feel sluggish and I had a strange nightmare. I was being tortured by some kind of twisted snake creature. It felt so real..." she muttered, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Hinata, I think that was real. You were infected by Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. Naruto's Rebound Jutsu damaged it, but as a side effect, it starting killing you." Shino explained.

Hinata frowned for a moment, but it quickly became a small smile, "Naruto-kun saved me, didn't he? In my dream, he took the pain away and held me close. Its funny, I can still feel him in my chest..." she said quietly, putting a hand over her heart. Sakura explained everything that had happened to her and the others, with Shino and Kiba filling her in on the things Sakura wasn't there to witness. By the time it was finished, Hinata was just sitting there, dumbfounded and rubbing her eyes.

"So I have a piece of Naruto-kun's soul inside me now? That's amazing." Hinata smiled warmly. She was still rubbing her eyes, making Sakura suspicious.

"Hinata, are your eyes alright? Is something bothering you?" she asked.

The Hyuga girl nodded a bit, "I can't seem to get the fog out of my eyes. My vision is blurry, and they feel a bit sore."

Sakura nodded and gently tilted Hinata's face up so that she could more easily see her eyes. Sakura wasn't very knowledgeable on Eyes and the Hyuga had their own specially trained doctors for treating their Byakugan, but the Pink Haired Girl knew enough to see that something was wrong. Hinata's eyes were blood shot and her pale irises were...sparkling? Sakura didn't know how to describe it; it was almost like Hinata had gotten a tiny bit of glitter in her eyes. "I'm not sure what's wrong here… perhaps this is a side effect of Orochimaru or Naruto's Souls?"

"Yeah, that must be it! Hey Shino, didn't Naruto say something about that freak's chakra clinging to her eyes?" Kiba said, Akamaru barking in agreement.

"Kiba is right. Perhaps they were damaged by it." Shino said.

Sakura quickly ran through some handsigns and performed her diagnostic jutsu on Hinata's eyes. The Haruno blinked a couple of times when her jutsu was cast; it felt more potent than usual, and she didn't feel as much of a drain on her chakra. It was a small difference, but enough to please Sakura. _"It looks like I've received a little gift from Naruto too."_ she thought with a smile. The Diagnostic jutsu was a fairly simple jutsu that worked like a sort of Chakra Sonar. It was a tiny pulse that shot through the patient's body and then bounced off any damage or other irregularities within their body. It was more useful than standard X-Rays and MRIs due to it being able to detect chakra as well as physical damage.

"Hmm, your optic nerves received a bit of damage from Orochimaru, but it seems to be healing rapidly. Perhaps the strange sparkle in your eyes is Naruto's chakra working to heal you?" Sakura theorised.

Hinata nodded in understanding before turning to Shino and Kiba. "I'm sorry Kiba, Shino, but it looks like I'll be out of the fight a bit longer." she said, bowing her head a bit.

Kiba just smirked while Shino shook his head. "Hey, relax Hinata! We all have injuries sometimes. I'd be a crappy teammate if I refused to help you when you need it!" Kiba said, pumping his fist.

"Indeed. Give yourself time to recover. We'll take over the mission until then." Shino added, his insects buzzing a bit to show their own agreement.

"Aw, how sweet! These pansies are going to protect the little fallen princess!" a snide voice shouted as three ninja emerged from the trees and landing on the forest floor, just outside the clearing that Team 7 and 8 had taken refuge in. Akamaru and Kiba both growled angrily at the newcomers, whom were all leaking Killing Intent.

"Who are you punks!?" he demanded, slipping his metal claws on.

"Its rude to demand our names without first introducing yourself." one of the ninja said. He was a male ninja, hunched over and covered in bandages.

Sakura scowled, "Sasuke warned us about them. They're a team from the Sound. The Mummy Man is named Dosu, the Kunoichi is named Kin and the loud mouth is Zaku."

Zaku, who had been the one to announce his team's arrival, grit his teeth, "Who are you calling a Loud mouth you little bitch!?" he roared furiously. Kiba and Sakura smirked while Dosu and Kin shook their heads.

"You're kind of proving their point, Zaku." Kin said with a giggle, making Zaku even angrier.

"Shut up! I'm going to kill these brats!" he shouted, running forward into the clearing.

"Zaku, you fool!" Dosu yelled, but it was too late. Zaku triggered a pitfall trap, causing him to fall into a six feet deep pit, lined with Exploding Tags.

"Do not move. If you touch the walls of that pit or try to jump out, I will trigger the explosives." Shino said. Kiba and Akamaru had dug the pit and several others like it all through out the clearing, while Shino had used his limited fuinjutsu knowledge to create the tags (with supplies borrowed from Naruto, whom had been unconscious at the time) while also directing spiders to make sturdy webs over the tops of the pits, so that small amounts of dirt could be layered on top to hide them. Any Ninja that had spent even a day in the Academy would be able to evade such an obvious trap, but Shino had been diligent in hiding them, and Zaku wasn't exactly a mental powerhouse.

"Shit! Let me out of here!" Zaku yelled, not daring to actually move with so many bombs around him.

"Not a chance. With this, it's two on two." Kiba grinned slashing his claws against each other to make sparks. Dosu sighed at his team mate's stupidity, then leaped high above the clearing and revealed one of his arms, which was inside a strange, bulky metal gauntlet with holes along the forearm. Suddenly, a powerful sound wave smacked down on the clearing and triggered the remaining trap holes, turning the clearing into maze of pitfalls.

"There, now we can see where we can step." Dosu remarked, landing just a few feet from Shino. The quiet boy adjusted his glasses before turning to Kiba.

"Leave this one to me. His attack uses Sound, so it would be dangerous against those with sensitive ears." Shino warned.

Kiba merely nodded and turned to Kin, whom was just stepping out of the trees and into the clearing. She carried herself with confidence, but Kiba could smell the fear running off her. The Inuzuka boy watched her closely, and judging from her appearance and movement, she wasn't a direct combat type ninja like he was. "Hmm, you aren't really a fighter, are you? You'd be a better fight for Sakura, or one of the brainy guys like Shikamaru, but I suppose you'll just have to settle for the Future Top Dog of the Leaf!" Kiba smirked, dropping into his Inuzuka style stance.

Kin scowled and threw several senbon at Kiba, whom merely blocked them with his metal claws as he charged forward. He slashed upward, aiming for Kin's shoulder, but the girl was acrobatic and managed to flip backward, dealing a hard kick to the underside of Kiba's jaw. The Dog boy flexed his jaw a bit, but the kick was much weaker than those he was used to, so he ignored it and charged forward again, this time feigning Kin by pretending to go for her legs with a sweeping kick, which she jumped to avoid, before he flipped into a spinning kick which caught her side and sent her flying towards the trees. Kin narrowly avoided landing in one of the exposed pitfalls, but before she could properly recover from Kiba's blow, the boy was on her again, attacking with a flurry of slashes which she desperately tried to block and avoid with her senbon, but Kiba was too strong and frequently broke through her guard, leaving thin, shallow cuts all over her.

"Damn it! That hurts! Back of you mangy mutt!" she yelled, throwing dozens of senbon at Kiba. The Dog boy just sighed and knocked them away; he was used to this sort of fighting from his occasional spar with Haku, but compared to the Ice User, Kin wasn't much of a fight at all.

"This is a lot more boring than I thought it would be." Kiba frowned, he hadn't even needed to use Akamaru yet!

Kin went red with embarrassment, unable to believe she was being humiliated by the Inuzuka. She and the other Sound Ninja had been given information on the Leaf Participants from their master, and Kiba was supposed to be far below their level! But here he was, handily kicking her ass without the slightest amount of effort. "You jerk, I'll make you pay for this!" she screamed, twitching her hand.

At first, Kiba thought the twitch was the preparation for a Jutsu, but then he heard a strange, ringing, like that of a bell. Looking around curiously, he searched for the source of the noise and found that many of the Senbon he'd knocked away had tiny bells attached to them, which were now ringing. "Using Ninja wire to ring a bell?" he muttered as he followed the line from one of the bells back to Kin, whom was indeed holding a bundle of thin wire. "Another Sound Attack?" Kiba asked, cutting the chakra to his ears to remove his enhanced hearing. It wouldn't make him deaf, but it would at least lower his hearing to normal human levels. Kin just smirked and suddenly split into ten clones, whom all surrounded Kiba and began pelting him with Senbon. The boy growled and tried to knock all the senbon away with a spinning strike from his claws, but found himself passing through almost all of them.

"What's the matter, Dog Boy? Seeing double?" Kin mocked, throwing another wave of Senbon. Kiba growled like a beast, but didn't attack or try to knock the Senbon away, instead opting to protect his head and chest. He felt the sting of the few real Senbon land in his arm and stifled his pained groan.

" _This isn't a normal Clone Jutsu… it must be a Genjutsu."_ Kiba thought, as he gingerly sniffed the air, trying to avoid making it obvious what he was doing. He suddenly smirked when he realised that Kin had made the same mistake many Genjutsu users did when fighting an Inuzuka… she didn't account for his nose. Most Genjutsu affect Sight or Hearing, with the best affected Touch, but very few affect Smell, simply because very few people exist that can detect subtle differences in scent. Unfortunately for Kin, but very fortunately for Kiba, the Inuzuka fell into that category.

Following the scent of the real Kin, Kiba surprised her by spinning on his heals and blocking the senbon she threw, and ONLY the ones she threw, ignoring the ones sent by her genjutsu clones. The look of shock and terror on her face as her attack failed brought a cocky grin to Kiba's face. "Sorry Sound Girl, but your little trick won't work any more." Kiba said, before charging at her again, this time aiming his claws for her throat.

Kin saw her life flash before her eyes as she subconsciously stepped backward, only to trip over Akamaru and fall into one of the Pitfalls, effectively putting her out of the fight. Kiba stood at the edge of the whole and laughed to himself as he pet his canine companion. Kin blushed furiously and refused to make eye contact. "W-What are you going to do to me now!?" she demanded. She knew very well that she couldn't escape the trap without being blown to the Afterlife, but that didn't mean that Kiba wasn't going to do something awful to her, especially since she was an enemy ninja.

Kiba got the implication and scoffed. "Don't lump me in with the kind of scum you get in the Sound! I kicked your ass fair and square! I'm not going to kill you or hurt you for nothing. Just wait until your team mate gets his ass kicked, then will take your scroll and send you packing." he yelled. Kin flinched at the harsh tone and promptly shut her mouth. If Kiba wasn't going to torture or kill her, she certainly wasn't going to give him reason to change his mind!

Across the Clearing, the battle between Shino and Dosu was looking dire for the Sound Ninja. Dosu was sending attack after attack at Shino, but the Aburame would always dodge with the minimum movement required and with barely any kind of counter attack, aside from the token shuriken he would toss to keep Dosu on his toes. Sakura watched the fight from the sidelines, narrating the battle to Hinata, whose eyes were still too blurry to see properly.

"I've never seen Shino fight like this before… What's he doing?" Sakura asked.

"Shino is the type to carefully watch his opponents for any sort of weakness. Whatever he's doing, he must be either finding or exploiting that weakness." Hinata explained, remembering her own spars with the Insect User. He was one of the youngest people she knew to have worked out the Byakugan's Blind Spot and memorised the locations of his Tenketsu to specifically counter her during battles, and if he would take such precautions against allies in friendly spars, there was no telling what he would do against an enemy.

Meanwhile, Dosu's weakness was becoming clearer and clearer; he was growing angry. Shino's disinterested attitude and seemingly lazy fighting style felt like he was disrespecting the Sound Ninja, and if there was one thing Dosu hated, it was being disrespected, especially by an opponent he perceived as weaker than him!

"Take this seriously you damn brat!" he yelled, finally snapping and focusing more chakra into his strange metal arm. The powerful Sound Wave it emitted made everyone present wince, including Kin and Zaku, but despite that, the person the attack was actually focused on, namely Shino, was merely sent skidding back by the sheer force of the attack, while showing no other symptoms. "What!? That should have disabled you completely!" Dosu shouted, what remained of his composure slipping away.

Shino didn't react or respond to his opponent's words and merely trained his gaze on the strange weapon on Dosu's arm. _"That weapon intakes air when it is swung and releases a sound wave, not unlike a dog whistle. He is using chakra to magnify it to create a silent and deadly attack But it is not effecting me. My previous assessment was correct."_ Shino thought, _"I have the information I need. I can formulate my counter attack."_

"Stop ignoring me!" Dosu roared, attacking again, though this time he actually tried to hit the boy directly with his massive metal arm. Shino wasn't fast enough to dodge, so instead he directed a small cloud of beetles to swarm his cheek and guard against the blow. The force was enough to knock Shino off balance, but the thick shells of the beetles absorbed much of the blow, with those that survived it flying into Dosu's exposed eye to distract him while Shino righted himself.

"Your physical blows will not work on me. Why? Because my Iron Shell Beetles are bred to be as hard as the Seven Tails' Chitin armour." Shino said, correcting his sunglasses again.

Dosu snarled as he ripped the remaining beetles off of his face, "So you can speak! You're pretty cocky for a guy that hasn't landed a single blow on me!" he shouted. Again, Shino did not answer him or even react, making the Sound Ninja even more furious. "Are you even listening to me!?"

Shino tilted his head a bit, before pointing at Dosu's arm. Confused, the Sound Ninja looked down and quickly recoiled at the sight; his weapon was infested with those Iron Shell Beetles! Not only where the air intake holes blocked, but so were the sound holes, and much to Dosu's horror, the weapon was beginning to degrade, almost like it was being melted by acid. "What the fuck!?" he roared, unstrapping the weapon and throwing it away, "My Melody Arm! What the hell did you do you four-eyed freak!?"

"My Iron Shell Beetles do not get their name solely from their hardness. They feed on Iron by releasing a softening agent to weaken the metal, then devour it. They are short lived, but can lay eggs which fully mature in a matter of seconds, especially when in a rich source of metal. Your weapon has become a new hive, I'm afraid." Shino explained. "And since it is gone, I no longer need this." he added as several insects crawled out of his ears.

Dosu looked at them and almost smacked himself, "So that's why you weren't answering me… and why my attacks were barely working"

"Ah, you were speaking. I could not tell. Why? Because your mouth is covered and I could not read your lips. Regardless, your weapon is useless and both your teammates are captured. Surrender your scroll and leave, or we will be forced to kill you." Shino threatened, though he kept his normal tone of voice. Dosu scowled and what few parts of his face that could be seen turned bright red, either from rage or embarrassment, but despite his obvious displeasure, the bandaged boy knew he was beaten. If these two could beat both him and Kin, then it wasn't worth pissing them off any further. Without a word, Dosu pulled a dark blue, Earth Scroll from up his sleeve and shoved it roughly into Shino's hand, before stalking off into the forest. Kiba smirked down at the remaining two Sound Ninja, still trapped in their pitfalls.

"Looks like your teammate doesn't care about you much. Go on, get out of here. We won't blow the tags if you leave." Kiba said with a cocky grin, infuriating Zaku and further humiliating Kin. Still, both knew that Dosu was more powerful than them, so continuing the fight at this point would be pointless. With a defeated groan and many muttered curses, the two jumped out of the holes and raced toward the forest in the direction Dosu had gone. Once they were gone, Kiba sighed. "Phew! Our bluff worked." he said, going to sit beside his friends in the shade of the tree hollow.

"Bluff?" Sakura asked.

"Only a few dozen of those tags were real. We borrowed the supplies to make them from Naruto while he was unconscious, but he didn't have enough for hundreds of tags, and we didn't have the time to make'em, so Shino used the Transformation Jutsu on a ton of his bugs." Kiba explained, with Shino nodding in agreement. The quiet boy handed the Earth Scroll to Sakura, whom looked between it and the boys of Team 8 with wide eyes.

"What? You're giving us the Earth Scroll?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yes. Your team deserves it. Why? Because if Naruto hadn't saved Hinata, she would have died and we would have failed the Exam, and more importantly, we would have lost a valued comrade. Take it, as a token of thanks." Shino said. His tone was the same as always, but something about his unbending posture and steady voice made Sakura think it was not up for debate.

"Yeah, take it Sakura. I was going to do the same thing anyway." Kiba added with a playful grin. That was a bold-faced lie, as the thought had never occurred to the Inuzuka, but he certainly did agree with Shino's words and would happily hand over the scroll.

Sakura felt a lump in her throat as she accepted the scroll. She was truly glad to have such great comrades… she swore to herself that she would repay their kindness.

Team 7 and 8 remained in their camp for a few more hours, to give Hinata some time to recover and wait for Naruto and Sasuke to wake up. It wasn't until Noon that Sasuke began to regain consciousness, grumbling to himself as he sat up.

"Sasuke-kun! Thank goodness you're alright!" Sakura smiled, gently hugging the boy. Sasuke blushed and awkwardly returned the hug.

"Sakura-chan. Don't worry, I'm alright. Just a bit stiff." Sasuke said, rubbing his neck. The Snake Bite had mostly healed, but was a little sore still. As he rubbed it, his fingers made contact with the Blessed Seal, and the feeling made him pause. The seal was slightly warmer than the surrounding skin, and touching it reminded Sasuke of when he and Naruto would put this fists together. He smiled a bit… now he shared something with both of his brothers; he shared Itachi's eyes, and now Naruto's Soul. "Tch, Naruto did something foolish again… still, I should thank him." Sasuke smirked.

"Heh, you're welcome."

Sasuke and the others turned to see Naruto had also woken up, though he was obviously still tired based on his sleepy expression. Naruto smiled happily to see Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata all up and awake, and after being given a moment to fully wake up, the two teams shared a meal of ration bars and fruits gathered from the forest. Naruto told them all about what he had experienced on his end while purifying the Cursed Seals, while Kiba told him and Sasuke about the battle with Team Dosu, which impressed them.

"Those three were the weaker team from the Sound, at least that was my impression, but they still seemed strong." Sasuke commented, still slowly chewing on a ration bar. Naruto had of course wolfed his down within seconds… it was almost a surprise that he even bothered taking the wrapper off!

"They underestimated us and were quick to anger. They are built for battle, not cunning." Shino said dismissively.

"Well thanks to that, we now have our scrolls! We can get into the tower!" Naruto cheered, holding up the two scrolls triumphantly.

"No we can't. Team 8 needs an Earth Scroll too." Sasuke reminded him.

Hinata shook her head, "It's fine. You can go on ahead! We'll manage just fine. We still have four days."

"Nah, Sasuke's right. I don't want to leave you guys to travel alone, especially if that Snake Freak is still around! I did kinda destroy four pieces of his soul..." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. Would Orochimaru know when his Soul Fragments were purged? Did he feel it, or sense it? Naruto had felt a bit of pain when separating his own Soul to save Hinata and Sasuke, but he felt no different after it was done.

"It would be safer to travel in a group. Plus, I want to continue observing Hinata's eyes. The blurriness is weakening, but still there." Sakura added.

Team 8 smiled amongst themselves and simply nodded. No one could deter Team 7 when they decided on something…

When the Teams had eaten, they packed up their make-shift camp and gathered up the functioning Explosive Tags (Shino apologised for taking them without asking, but Naruto didn't mind), before finally heading onward toward the tower. At a steady pace, it would take them at least a day to reach the tower, and that was plenty of time to hunt another team for their scroll. They ran through the forest in a rough cross formation, with Sakura and Hinata in beside each other (so that Sakura could monitor and help guide Hinata) Sasuke behind them and Shino at the end, while Kiba was at the very front with Naruto between him and the girls. It served well enough, as Sakura and Hinata had a fair bit of protection and with Sakura in the centre, she could quickly aid anyone injured in an attack. Kiba took the lead to sniff out the enemy and either pursue or avoid them, while Naruto was behind him to immediately pounce and attack in the event they crashed into another team. Shino brought up the rear, since he was the best at long range attacks and best able to detect things behind him with his insects, while Sasuke fulfilled the same role as Naruto, though he was positioned to attack enemies who caught them from behind.

They travelled for an hour before running into another team; one from the Hidden Rain Village. They had tried to attack Kiba at the front of the formation, but he had back flipped the attack and Naruto had slammed into the enemy with ferocity, quickly slashing apart their defences and leaving them wounded. The attack was so sudden and ferocious that the Rain Genin had just screamed and threw their scroll at Naruto before running away in terror to lick their wounds. Unfortunately, it was a Heaven Scroll… but at least it gave them a bargaining chip if they ran into a powerful team that they couldn't bring down. After another hour of travel, Kiba smelled a couple of teams on the forest floor and led Team 7 and 8 into a hiding spot above them.

Naruto peered down at them teams and smiled, seeing Killer Bee's Genin Team; Yugito, Cee and Yoshio. The other team was only vaguely familiar from the written exam; they wore red clothing with a long-skirt like attachment which covered one leg. Their headbands had two boulders on it, identifying them as Ninja from the Hidden Stone. Naruto signalled to the others; "Cloud Team may be friendly. Stone Team Unknown."

Sasuke carefully examined the other teams with his Sharingan, and saw that all six had chakra prepared to attack in an instant. They were prepared, which put them above the Rain Team from earlier…

Cee, down on the forest floor, turned away from the conversation between his team and the Stone Team, and looked up into the trees. "Come out, Naruto. I can sense you and your allies."

"What? But I wasn't using my chakra!" Naruto commented with a frown.

"He must be a Sensor type." Shino said.

Regardless, since they were discovered, they cautiously jumped down to the forest floor, though Naruto discreetly left a few dozen Shadow Clones and a Familiar Clone to command them, just in case they were attacked. Once they were on the ground, the Leaf Teams were able to get a closer look at the Stone Team, and found it was a team of two Kunoichi and one Shinobi. One of the Kunoichi had shoulder length brown hair and steel grey eyes with orange make up on them. She was glaring hard at Shino, whom was either unaware or uninterested in this strange girl's contempt for him. The other Kunoichi had short black hair and black eyes and seemed to be cheerful and confident, at least based on her cocky grin. The Shinobi of the team was a rather chubby boy with his brown hair mostly hidden by his bandanna. He had a large nose and appeared quite jovial, as he had a pleasant smile on his face as he toyed with his yellow scarf.

"Ah, Naruto. Good to see you." Yoshio greeted politely. "You came at a good time. This team wants to fight us, but we already have our scrolls. Would you be so kind as to fight them?"

Naruto sweat-dropped, while Cee and Yugito looked just as surprised by the request. _"I'm never going to figure that guy out, am I?"_ Naruto thought. "Sure, why not. We still need an Earth Scroll anyway."

Yoshio grinned and turned to leave, with Cee and Yugito following closely behind. "That isn't like you, Yoshio. You never run from a fight!" Yugito commented.

"We aren't running. I am merely taking the opportunity to see Naruto in action. He is a Tailed Beast, like Bee-sensei's Eight Tails. We're going to need all the information we can get to fight him in the rest of the Exam." Yoshio commented as he jumped into a tree with a fairly good line of sight with the other teams. Yugito and Cee joined him, silently admitting he had a point.

Back with the others, the Black haired girl giggled, "You're pretty easy to convince, aren't you? Naruto Uzumaki."

"You know me?" Naruto asked.

"Of course! There are rumours about you… 'Naruto Uzumaki, a Human Tailed Beast with Uzumaki blood and their Adamantine Chains, and with a jutsu that can rob a person of their Ninjutsu!' You're making big waves, Nine Tails." she grinned. Naruto frowned a bit; he didn't like being referred to as Nine Tails, but at least this girl didn't seem to hate him like the others who used that name did.

"Alright, you know him, but we don't know you. Introduce yourselves." Sasuke demanded, a little annoyed by being thrust into someone else's fight.

The Black haired girl smirked at Sasuke and looked him up and down, sizing him up with a critical eye that only annoyed Sasuke further. "My name is Kurotsuchi. My teammates are Suzumebachi of the Kamizuru Clan and Akatsuchi. We're ninja of the Stone, in case you couldn't tell."

Shino corrected his glasses as he looked toward Suzumebachi, the other Kunoichi on the team. "Kamizuru Clan? They were insect users as well, and once the rival of the Aburame. My father claims the rivalry was as bitter as the one between the Senju and the Uchiha."

Suzumebachi scowled at him, "I knew it, you're an Aburame! I'm going to crush you and win back my Clan's Honour!" she declared, taking a step toward Shino only for Sasuke to stand between them.

"Sorry lady, but if you're looking for a fight, you'll have to settle for me." Sasuke said, drawing his blade and pointing at the girl, making her hesitate and back off.

"Sasuke, it is fine. I can fight her." Shino said, but Sasuke shook his head.

"I know you could take her down, but you've already fought to defend us, and I hate having debts left unpaid, so I'll be taking this one. Plus, I'm itching to try out this Blessed Seal." Sasuke smirked, pulling on his collar and revealing the mark.

"Sasuke-kun's got a point! You helped us, so we'll repay the favour." Sakura chimed in as she stood beside her boyfriend.

Kurotsuchi grinned again and clicked her fingers, "You Leaf Ninja have a lot of fighting spirit! I like that! How about we make this a two on two fight? Suzumebachi and Akatsuchi VS Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue that he should get to fight too, but suddenly noticed something. "Wait, we didn't introduce ourselves. How do you know their names?" he asked suspiciously.

The Stone Girl looked at him and began to lick her lips. "Oh, the same we know about you, Naruto-kun. You're pretty famous thanks to those rumours about you, can you really be that surprised that the people close to you got caught up in it too? We also know about your lovers, Hinata Hyuga and Fu."

Naruto's eyes became slits, "It felt like you were threatening me there." he growled, moving protectively between himself and Hinata.

"Whoa there Foxy, relax. It was a warning; the Stone doesn't want you as our enemy. Half the reason my Gramps sent us here was to see you for ourselves. We want a "Live and let live" relationship." Kurotsuchi said quickly, holding her hands up in an attempt to calm the Angry Tailed Beast.

"If you want to see me for real, then why don't you and I fight?" Naruto asked, still glaring at her.

"Because I'm not stupid. I'm a Kunoichi, I'll risk my life for the sake of my village and my mission, but not to have a pointless fight with you. I'd fight your teammates, but it would be a one-sided fight." she said defensively. She didn't like people implying she was cowardly, and truth be told, she was itching for a good, challenging fight! She just couldn't enjoy it if she knew she had no chance. "My Skills are a really bad fit for a Wooded area, so I can't use them properly. But, if you guys meet us again in the next part of the Exams, I'll be happy to kick your asses!"

Akatsuchi chuckled and stepped forward, "Forgive her, she doesn't like forests much. Shall we get this fight over with?"

"Yeah. I'm itching to fight!" Sasuke said, pulling his sword back and getting into his combat stance. Sakura did the same at his side, while Naruto grumbled at sat close beside Hinata. Suzumebachi and Akatsuchi entered their own combat stances, with Kurotsuchi bouncing eagerly excited to watch the fight.

Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a fight…

Suzumebachi began the fight by lacing her fingers with chakra and stabbing them at Sakura, which stung the Haruno's forearms like hornets when she raised her arms to block. The Stone girl smirked, thinking she'd won as her Chakra Stingers sent a paralysing agent into Sakura's body, but when she pulled away, the wounds on Sakura's arms were already healed.

"Huh… the remnants of Naruto's chakra inside me are devouring whatever you just injected and healing me! This is a pretty handy ability, Naruto!" Sakura smirked, turning back to the Blond Boy, whom chuckled.

"Well, my Tailed Beast power does let me heal extremely fast and neutralises most poisons. I guess the chakra I left inside you is doing the same for you." Naruto said.

Sakura grinned wider; with Naruto's chakra and her own medical jutsu, she could become a near-invincible juggernaut! At least against low-level threats like these Genin. Suzumebachi growled and began running through hand signs. " **Summoning Jutsu: Giant Ho-** "

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura yelled, charging forward and punching the other girl hard in the chest, her fist empowered by both her own chakra and a little of the Fox Chakra. Suzumebachi grimaced as she felt her ribs crack, and then a moment later the force of the blow had sent her crashing into the undergrowth behind Kurotsuchi, leaving the girl unconscious. Sakura flinched a bit at the rather violent sound the other girl made when she landed, then looked at her fist with an amazed expression. "Whoa… I took her down in one punch." she mumbled, before glancing at Naruto. _"This is only a tiny amount of the power he left inside me, and that was only a tiny amount of what he can do… Naruto, just how strong are you really?"_ she thought.

With Suzumebachi down, everyone turned their attention to Akatsuchi and Sasuke. The Stone Ninja had coated himself in stone armour and was throwing punch after punch at Sasuke, whom was ducking and weaving around them with no effort, his Sharingan not even active. He wasn't using the Blessed Seal yet, but the Uchiha was used to fighting opponents that preferred speed over raw power, so the slow but strong Akatsuchi wasn't too hard to dodge. Sasuke tutted to himself as he once again avoided a blow, before making eye contact with his opponent.

"Hey, Stone guy, tell you what. My girlfriend beat your teammate in one punch, so let's see if I can do the same. Come at me full force! I won't dodge!" he declared. He could feel a whisper from his Blessed Seal, telling him to send his chakra to it, and he was more than happy to oblige. Suddenly, his Blessed Seal began to glow gold, and three of the Nine Tomoe began to spread a strange seal-like pattern over his body. When the glowing stopped, White Seal markings were all over Sasuke, and he was leaking an aura of golden chakra. The Young Uchiha looked at the markings on his arms, and while the seals appeared to be almost entirely illegible, he could still make out that they were written in Naruto's signature style.

"This power feels incredible! I feel like I could defeat even Kakashi-sensei with this!" Sasuke said, flexing his fingers. He had never felt so light and strong before, and he had so much chakra flowing through him that he was fairly certain he create a fireball big enough to destroy the whole forest. "Okay! One punch… bring it on!"

"You got it!" Akatsuchi yelled, adding even more rock to his armoured fist and throwing a punch with all his might. The force of the blow could easily smash trees and boulders, and could even dent a thick steel door. If it hit an unprepared opponent straight on, it would certainly kill them.

But Sasuke was prepared.

In a single movement, Sasuke effortless caught the blow in one hand, barely even feeling the slight sting of pain from slapping his hand onto the rock so quickly. Before anyone could register what had happened, Sasuke threw back his other fist and smashed it into Akatsuchi's stomach, pulverizing his rock armour and knocking the boy unconscious. Sasuke smirked with satisfaction as he caught his defeated opponent and laid him down gently, before relaxing and allowing the Blessed Seal to retreat back to its dormant state.

"Looks like your teammates are down. Now hand over your scroll, unless you think you can take us." Sasuke said, looking to Kurotsuchi.

The black haired kunoichi stared back at Sasuke, completely dumbfounded… she had never seen some one beat Akatsuchi so easily, nor had she seen somebody shrug off Suzumebachi's paralysing sting without even being slowed down by it. "Whoa… if I can't use my full power against you, then I don't stand a chance. I'll back down for now, but this isn't over." Kurotsuchi yelled, before pulling out an Earth Scroll and tossing it to Sasuke. She then picked up her two unconscious friends and fled into the forest.

"Hmm, I wonder what she can do. Must have something to do with Fire if she's scared to use it in the forest." Naruto commented as Sasuke silently handed the Earth Scroll to Shino and Kiba. Both Shino and Sasuke thought it was a bit silly that each had fought and won the Earth Scroll for the other team, but they accepted it all the same.

"Whatever her powers are, it doesn't matter. Now we have two sets of scrolls and can pass this exam." Sasuke said.

Just then, Team Killer Bee jumped back down beside them, not really surprising any one on Team 7 or 8. "Figured you were watching us. Scoping out the competition, right?" Kiba asked.

Yoshio nodded, while Cee and Yugito gave an apologetic look. "Yes. It is always wise to gather information on your opponents. Though it wasn't much of a fight as opposed to a one-sided beat down." Yoshio said with a small smirk.

"Yoshio! We should apologise. Naruto is Bee-Sensei's friend now, he'll be mad if he finds out we drew him into our fight and then ditched him to watch!" Yugito scowled. Yoshio was unaffected, but he did see the logic in her words. Forcing potential allies to fight your battles so you can observe them isn't exactly friendly.

"Very well. Take this as an apology." he said, pulling a small bottle from his tool pouch. "These are Eye drops, specially made for those with...sensitive eyes. Your Hyuga friend could use them."

Naruto gratefully accepted the drops and handed them to Sakura to administer to Hinata (though the pink haired medic did examine them first for signs of treachery). "Thank you for the help, Yoshio." Hinata said politely once some of the drops had been administered. Her foggy vision was already clearing up.

"You are welcome. The Cloud has bad history with the Hyuga Clan, I want to make sure you know that I am not your enemy." the pale haired Genin said.

"Why exactly do you have something like those drops anyway?" Sasuke asked, suspicious. Perhaps it was the instincts that had been drilled into him by Itachi at the Police Force, but the Young Uchiha could sense there was an underlying mystery about the quiet Cloud boy.

"My mother has a condition which leads her to having sensitive eyes. I inherited that condition, though to a lesser extent. I keep several bottles of those drops on hand, just in case." Yoshio explained. Sasuke continued to feel suspicion, but a quick glance at Naruto showed that the blond did not share the suspicion, meaning that the Cloud Ninja was at least being honest.

"Well, we have our scrolls already, so we have no need to fight. We're going to scout the competition a bit more before heading to the tower, so we'll see you later." Yugito smiled, waving to Naruto and the others as she and her teammates once again jumped away into the trees and departed.

"I cannot figure out that Yoshio guy… he's a bit like a more expressive Sai." Naruto commented.

"He's also serious about his work as a Shinobi. I bet he'll go far in this exam." Sasuke added, unknowingly thinking of the Cloud Ninja as a new rival. "Regardless, we should head to the tower now. We could all use some rest, and I know you haven't fully recovered yet, Naruto."

The Blond boy nodded guiltily. It was true; he had never felt so weak and drained. He'd need to spend some time recovering. Sakura just sighed and lightly popped him on the head for hiding his physical condition from her, while Hinata gave him a gentle, but scolding look. Kiba and Shino weren't surprised after seeing how hard Naruto had worked to save the others, so they kept quiet. After taking a few minutes to recover the small amount of strength they used in the battle with the Stone Ninja, the two teams began to travel once again for the Tower. They travelled at a much faster rate this time, since Hinata could now see properly and they didn't need any more scrolls.

And finally, after all the trouble they'd encountered in the forest, just as the sun was beginning to set, they found themselves standing outside the tower which had been their goal since the start of the Exam. It was built in a similar style to the Hokage Tower in the village, but was significantly taller and much more shabby. It looked like a structure that had faced and repelled siege after siege, with parts of it being burned up and replaced while others were collapsed and completely rebuilt, giving it a patch work look. With triumphant and relieved smiles, Team 7 and Team 8 threw open the doors and marched in, having successfully arrived within the first 24 hours of the test!

"Finally! Maybe now we can take a break." Sakura cheered. The room they had entered was a fairly bland room with no decoration, other than a large plaque on the wall. There were not even any doors, aside from the one they had entered through.

"I'm not so sure. I don't think the test is over." Hinata said, pointing up at the plaque.

Sasuke frowned and began to read it aloud; "All things are born from Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth exist in all things. If one lacks knowledge then look to the Heavens. If one lacks strength then look to the Earth. When Heaven and Earth are brought together, the path to true power is opened and a Ninja is born."

"Jeez, sounds like bad poetry." Kiba commented.

"It's talking about Chakra." Naruto said. "Chakra is created when Mental Energy and Physical Energy are moulded together. Its saying that if you lack Mental Energy or "Heaven" and Physical Energy or "Earth", then you need to train those things to make your chakra, and become "Ninja". Its a lesson I learned from Gramps." Naruto explained. The basic theory of chakra was explained to all Academy Students as one of their most basic lessons, but the Third Hokage had been sure to teach Naruto the finer details, since the boy was essentially sentient chakra now.

"I suspect this means we must open our scrolls together." Shino theorised as he took out the two scrolls he had hidden away inside his coat. Naruto did the same, summoning the items from where he had sealed them.

"Okay, lets do it. On three; one, two… THREE!" Naruto shouted, flicking open both scrolls in one smooth movement as Shino did the same. The scrolls crossed each other, seemingly of their own will, and a plume of smoke burst from each set. When the smoke subsided, the village's eternal Gate Guards; Izumo and Kotetsu, were standing there, each wearing a proud grin.

"Ha! Team 7 got here before the first 24 hours were up! Those pricks from ANBU are going to owe us a lot of Ryo!" Izumo laughed.

"Heh, congrats you guys. We figured you'd both pass. You're the fourth and fifth teams to arrive." Kotetsu added.

The gathered Genin cheered and celebrated their success while the two Chunin looked on and laughed. "This is great! Who are the other passing teams so far?" Naruto asked.

"A team from the Sand was first. Second was Team 12, and third was a Sound Team. I'd keep away from those foreign teams; the Red head from the Sand and the creepy girl from the Sound both made a horrible mess in the forest." Izumo said.

The group exchanged knowing looks. Gaara and Shina… "We'll keep that in mind. So can we move into the tower now?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure. Each team can pick an empty room to stay in until the exam ends. Meals will be provided when the time comes." Kotetsu explained, before performing a handsign and causing a door to appear below the plaque. The two Chunin gave a final wave and then disappeared, leaving the Leaf Genin to enter the tower, looking forward to their rest.

They'd need to wait a little longer…

"What's going on here?" Sakura asked as they turned a corner and found Team 12 and Gaara's Team having some sort of discussion. Temari and Kankuro, as well as Team 12, were all desperately trying to calm Gaara, whom was focused on Fu with a blood-thirsty aura surrounding him.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Naruto demanded, stepping forward to confront Gaara.

Gaara turned all his attention on Naruto, suddenly forgetting that anyone else was present. As far as the Sand Boy was concerned, no one else existed but him and Naruto. He stalked forward, almost breaking into a run as a murderous glare appeared on his face. "I want to know… I need to know… what are you!? What are you, NARUTO UZUMAKI!?"

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **More Long Chapters! I didn't expect this one to be as long as it was, but I wanted to have a bit of fun with other battles. Kiba and Shino kind of get neglected, since they're generally overshadowed by Hinata and Team 7, so I wanted to give them a fight to show some of their abilities. I also wanted to show how much Sasuke and Sakura were improved by their ordeal with the Cursed Seals!**

 **Next chapter focuses on Gaara and Naruto, and what their relationship will become, so stay tuned!**


	33. Chunin Exams: Chapter 8

**AN:**

Right, this chapter will deal with Naruto's relationship with Gaara and Shukaku. I'm aiming for this one to be a bit shorter than the last two, since those were really long, but it should still be good!

 **SUPER IMPORTANT NOTICE:**

 **Due to a combination of Unforeseen events, an Injury and my lack of time, I am forced to put this story on a temporary Hiatus. I am stilling writing it and plan to finish it, but for now, the story will be going on break. I don't know how long this will last; it might be a week or two, or even a month or more, but I promise to get back to it as soon as I possibly can!**

Please Review and I hope you enjoy!

 **XOXOXOX**

 **THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE**

 **ARC 03: CHUNIN EXAMS**

 **CHAPTER 8: THE FOX AND THE TANUKI**

 **XOXOXOX**

 _LAST TIME ON THE NINE TAILS INCARNATE:_

" _What's going on here?" Sakura asked as they turned a corner and found Team 12 and Gaara's Team having some sort of discussion. Temari and Kankuro, as well as Team 12, were all desperately trying to calm Gaara, whom was focused on Fu with a blood-thirsty aura surrounding him._

" _Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Naruto demanded, stepping forward to confront Gaara._

 _Gaara turned all his attention on Naruto, suddenly forgetting that anyone else was present. As far as the Sand Boy was concerned, no one else existed but him and Naruto. He stalked forward, almost breaking into a run as a murderous glare appeared on his face. "I want to know… I need to know… what are you!? What are you, NARUTO UZUMAKI!?"_

 **XOXOXOX**

Naruto scowled as he was forced to grab his teammates with his tails and leap away from Gaara's sand, which suddenly lunged at them. Gaara was screaming like a mad man, demanding to know what Naruto was, all while the boy dodged and bounced around the narrow hallway, his fellow Leaf Ninja fighting the urge to throw up from the sudden onslaught of rapid, jerky movement. Temari and Kankuro were standing a few feet away, begging Gaara to calm down before he killed someone and got them all disqualified, but the Red head didn't listen, if he could even hear over his own roars.

"Okay, this is getting annoying!" Naruto said, dodging another wave of sand. He landed in his full Fox Form, shrunk down enough to fit comfortably in the hallway. With his two teammates and the six members of Team 8 and Team 12 grasped in his tails, Naruto only had one tail left, but he was able to dart it towards Gaara.

Gaara didn't react, fully expecting his sand to raise up and protect him, but for some reason, it didn't. The boy screamed in terror as Naruto's tail wrapped around him and lifted him into the air, knocking his gourd off his back in the process. "MOTHER! HELP ME! WHY!? WHY DON'T YOU WANT HIS BLOOD!?"

Naruto sighed with relief as Gaara was rendered unable to fight, and was able to drop his friends back to their feet. "Okay, now that Blood Boy is restrained, does somebody want to fill us in?" Sasuke asked, eagerly waiting for his stomach to stop churning.

"I don't know what happened! We were just walking to our room when this guy started yelling at me and demanding I explain myself!" Fu explained. "I tried to tell him I'm a Jinchuriki like him, but then he just demanded to know about you."

Temari and Kankuro cautiously approached the group of Leaf Ninja, their eyes flitting nervously between their captive brother and the Fox that was holding him. "Y-You are a Jinchuriki as well, aren't you?" Temari said, not sure how to really react to the talking fox.

"Not exactly. I'm a Human Tailed Beast." Naruto explained. "It's kind of complicated, but I was born a human during the Nine Tails Attack twelve years ago. The Fourth Hokage made a deal with the old Nine Tails; Kurama, and fused me with his power while Kurama's Soul and Mind passed on to the Afterlife. His power turned me into a Tailed Beast with a Human Soul."

"So that's what you meant when you told Tori that you had a Special Connection with the Jinchuriki! I'm kind of surprised you weren't sealed up yourself." Kankuro said, idly picking up his brother's gourd.

"Naruto cannot be sealed. I don't fully understand the science behind it, but his Human Soul directs his Chakra to construct a Human Body around it, so even if his body is completely destroyed, he can still reform as a Human instead of a beast. Living Human bodies cannot be sealed, and even if they could, Naruto is an Uzumaki and would likely break the seal from the inside." Sakura said. After befriending Naruto, she had begun using her Medical Training as an excuse to begin researching his unique physiology, which the Leaf's Medical Community had been eager to allow, since Naruto didn't like doctors, but was willing to let Sakura do the tests they needed done.

"Huh, an Immortal Ninja with the power of a Tailed Beast and devoted to the Leaf? I'm really glad the Sand and Leaf are allies." Temari said, sounding wistful _"And we need to make sure it stays that way!"_ she thought, remembering the tragically stupid plan that was in the works.

Naruto merely nodded at Temari's words and looked to Gaara, whom was still struggling fruitlessly and calling out for his "mother". "Hey Gaara, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. You want to know why your mother doesn't want my blood, right? Then why don't we ask her together." he offered, trying to be nice. Gaara was a few months younger than him, but his unusual demeanour, stripped of his menacing glare and blood lust, made him seem like a deranged child. His life as a Jinchuriki had stunted his growth, both mentally and emotionally.

"You can hear her!? You can speak to Mother!?" Gaara asked. Naruto couldn't tell if the boy sounded afraid or hopeful.

"Not right now, but your mother's voice is in your head, right? Well Fu and I are like you, so if you let us in, we can use our chakra to enter your mind." Naruto offered.

"NO! STAY OUT!" Gaara yelled.

Naruto sighed, "Well, then why don't I invite you into my mind? If anything happens, your mother will save you, alright?" Gaara went limp as he thought about it. His "mother" wasn't talking to him, and without her words, he wasn't sure what to do… it had been years since he really made a decision on his own, and the absence of the ever-present voice made him feel empty and afraid. If Naruto could bring back the voice and take away the emptiness, Gaara would accept it.

"I will do it." he said in a tired monotone. Naruto smiled warmly at him, but the Red Head looked away out of embarrassment, which made Naruto chuckle a bit.

"Fu, are you and Chomei okay with coming into my Mind?" he asked.

The Mint-haired girl nodded, "We should be fine. My seal is a bit looser than it was in Waterfall, thanks to your help, so it should be possible."

Naruto nodded and turned to his friends and the Sand Siblings, "Fu, Gaara and I will probably pass out while we talk inside my mind. Please watch over our bodies." he said, before wrapping another tail around Fu. He began to channel his chakra into both of them, just enough that their own chakra and that of their beasts would latch on so he could pull them into his mind. Fu's Chakra felt the same as it had in Waterfall, though it was even brighter and more energetic than before, and carried a fresher scent to it. Gaara on the other hand, felt like Naruto had just inhaled sand. The raw, dry and arid chakra made the Fox Boy cringe, and even within the dry sensation, there was a kind of gunky and gross feeling reminiscent of wet sand, which filled his nostrils with the coppery stench of blood. _"His spirit is drenched in blood and sorrow. What kind of life did you live, Gaara?"_ Naruto thought, as he allowed his mind to relax and drift into the world within his Soul.

 **[Naruto's Inner World]**

When Naruto opened his eyes, he was in the familiar serene woods that had become the back drop of his Soul, complete with the distant noise of animals and the scent of flowers. The Blond looked around to see where Fu and Gaara had been pulled in, and was shocked to find that the power of their chakra and their beasts had begun to reshape his soul a bit along the borders. To his left was Fu and the giant Seven Tails, Chomei. Their chakra had changed very little about their surroundings, only causing the trees to grow taller, thicker and more spaced out, like the ones in the Land of Waterfalls.

Gaara was another story. He was situated to Naruto's right, and behind him was the One Tailed Tanuki: Shukaku. The massive Raccoon appeared to be made of sand, and he was covered in intricate, almost seal-like markings, with most of the concentrated on the massive, single tail that swayed behind him. Gaara and Shukaku had reshaped the area they had entered, causing it to dry out and die. The trees were left as dry, bleached husks of bark, while the grass had completely disappeared; replaced by dry, baked and cracked earth. Naruto reluctantly looked into some of these crags and saw red earth just below the surface… their chakra had even seeped their blood lust into Naruto's Soul. The changes that the two Beasts and their Jinchuriki had made worried Naruto a bit, but so long as he remained the one in control, he would not be influenced by them.

"So, you are the youngest of my Siblings; Shukaku the One Tail. Its nice to meet you." Naruto greeted politely, hoping to get off on the right foot with the beast.

" **Ha! Isn't that a sight to see! The Nine Tailed Fox showing me some respect! I already like you more than that ass Kurama!"** Shukaku cackled. His voice was strangely high-pitched compared to his massive size.

Gaara looked between Shukaku, the Seven Tails and Naruto with a bewildered expression. In his mind, Shukaku was a being of immense power, whom sustained Gaara's entire existence in exchange for offerings of Blood...and that being was accepting Naruto Uzumaki as a younger sibling! Not only that, but another beast of equal or even greater power was doing the same, and to make the whole thing even stranger; the Seven Tails seemed to treat its Jinchuriki like an equal.

"You didn't want his blood… because he is your brother? I almost killed your brother!?" he yelled, beginning to hyperventilate. Naruto ran up to him and gripped his shoulders tightly, shaking the boy a bit to get his attention back on him.

"Hey there, keep your cool! Even if Shukaku-nii-san had let you attack me, I wouldn't have died! I'm a Tailed Beast like him and Chomei-nee-san. I'd just come back to life again!" Naruto said, forcing Gaara to look into his eyes. The Red head calmed a bit, and his eyes softened for the first time since Naruto had met him, making him appear as an actual twelve year old boy, as opposed to a blood drenched killer.

"You are not angry? You do not want to kill me?" Gaara spluttered.

"Of course not! Look, I didn't bring you in here to hurt you or even scold you. I want you and Fu to help Chomei-nee-san and I talk some sense into Shukaku-nii-san!" Naruto explained, his grip on Gaara weakening to the point that he was only comforting him as opposed to grabbing him.

" **Talk sense into me!? I should be the one talking sense into the two of you! Why do you live among the humans so casually!? They've used us as Weapons, traded us like cheap toys and blamed us for their own stupidity! Chomei, you know this better than anyone! The same village that enslaves me once held you, and traded you away! And how did your new masters treat you!?"** Shukaku yelled.

Chomei did not respond for a moment. She looked down at Fu and remembered all the times that she had been beaten and abused by humans… her own kind, for the crimes of someone else. And even the crimes Chomei did commit against humanity were forced on her by a previous master. **"Shukaku, I understand your feelings. Humanity has hurt us, but don't we just make ourselves equally bad if we lash out against innocents? Look at your Jinchuriki!"** Chomei yelled, pointing its single normal tail at Gaara.

The Red Head was terrified, not sure how to react to Naruto's friendly touch or the anger of the two massive beasts around him. His eyes were ringed with black from lack of sleep, and his mind was so shattered that he could barely comprehend the situation going on around him. Gaara had even twisted the stories told of his mother and the One Tail to the point that he felt Shukaku WAS his mother, or at least an incarnation of her… and what son wouldn't try to please their mother?

" **That boy is your prison, but he is an unwilling one. You were forced together, but instead of making the best of it and making a potential ally that could help free you, you tortured him and deprived him of sleep! You sacrificed an innocent and a possible friend all so you could take a few more cheap shots at Humanity!"** Chomei continued.

Shukaku recoiled as if Chomei's words had physically hurt him. Memories of that strange old monk flooded into his mind… that monk had reminded him so much of the Old Sage… could Gaara have been like that if he hadn't twisted him? **"He is a human. Tailed Beasts and Humans can never be friends."**

"You're wrong!" Naruto shouted. He charged as much chakra as he could and grew himself to massive size, to the point that he appeared to be almost an identical replica of Kurama, though with Gold fur instead of Orange. He gently held Gaara in one paw, and raised the boy up to look the Tanuki in the eye. "I am a Tailed Beast, and almost all of my friends are Human! Kurama-nii-san told me that the Old Sage wants me to be the bridge between Humans and Tailed Beasts! And yeah, Humanity has done a lot of terrible things to you and our siblings, and the crimes they accuse you off are crimes they forced you to commit, but that doesn't mean you can just hurt innocents out of revenge!"

Shukaku looked at Gaara for a moment, trying to picture a life where he had become his friend instead of his puppet. The One Tail had gotten to watch the deaths of many Humans thanks to his manipulation of the young Sand Ninja, but would the last twelve years have been better if he'd just trusted the boy and become his friend? Chomei certainly seemed happy enough with her Jinchuriki, and that Jinchuriki didn't blame the beast for crimes committed by others, already putting her above most humans in Shukaku's eyes. Would Gaara have been the same?

" **I can't just let go of what the Humans have done."** he said. No matter how much he listened to Naruto and Chomei, that was one fact that could never be erased.

Naruto nodded in understanding; "I know how you feel. While I have a lot of human friends and allies, there are a lot that tried to hurt me or turn others against me because I am the Nine Tails. They blamed me for things I hadn't done and some even tried to kill me when I was young. But we Tailed Beasts… there's only nine of us, and there are billions of humans. If we rejected humanity altogether, don't you think it would be lonely? Don't you feel lonely, being trapped in the Sand with no one to talk to?"

" **Hahaha… You really remind me of the Old Sage and his dopey son Asura. They always went on and on about bringing people together as friends. Look, Little Brother, I can't and won't forgive what Humanity has done to me and our kind! And I'll never change my opinion of Humans so long as they keep us captive! But… if you really want me to, I'll at least live and let live with this little whelp."** Shukaku conceded, gently poking Gaara, much to the Boy's confusion.

Naruto smiled a Foxy smile while Chomei gently laughed. Shukaku was a stubborn one, but at least he was willing to make a small concession. "Thanks Shukaku-nii-san. That means a lot. I want to help Gaara too, will you help me?" Naruto asked.

The Tanuki gave a reluctant nod. **"Yeah, I'll stop messing with him and clear up the mess I made in his head. The Old Sage would be disappointed in me if I didn't. But if I'm gonna do this, you've got to listen to some advice from your awesome Big Bro!"**

"Heh, sure." Naruto smiled.

Shukaku's face became serious, and he bore he eyes into Naruto's. **"I may have been wrong when I was directing this kid to kill indiscriminately, but you're taking a dangerous path too. You've never taken a life, have you?"**

"I-er-I mean I haven't exactly..." Naruto spluttered.

" **Knew it. You're too innocent. Look Little Brother, I get that you want to be nice and forgiving and all that other Ninshu stuff that the Old Man talked about, but even he and Asura were willing to kill. Some people are beyond reason and can never be talked down. You can still try, but some things just won't work the way you want them to. And times like that… it would be kinder to everyone, if you hide your feelings and took their lives. Excessive Murder may be wrong, but Extreme Pacifism can lead to just as much pain if you are too forgiving."**

Naruto frowned and looked away. He remembered Kushimaru, whom had effectively committed suicide after Naruto had stripped him of his powers, and he remembered the Hyuga Elder, whom had offered his life to Hinata out of pride for his position, which he would rather die than surrender. "If… If you are willing to try and make peace with Gaara, then I'll try and take your advice." he said, feeling a bit defeated.

" **Do not look so glum, Naruto."** Chomei said, putting one of her insect legs on his shoulder, **"Taking a life will not make you a monster. It is an unfortunate reality of the Ninja World, and you must learnt to live with it if you wish to continue your current path."**

"Alright. I'll do my best." Naruto nodded. Shukaku and Chomei grinned in their own ways and gently began to release their chakra, so that they could return to their own inner worlds with their Jinchuriki.

" **Naruto, Fu and I are going to talk for a bit before returning to consciousness, so do not worry if we are still asleep when you wake up."** Chomei told him, Fu grasped gently in her tail. Fu has primarily kept quiet during the conversation, as she felt insufficiently qualified to really do anything. Her life had been different from Gaara's, as she had become the abused as opposed to the abuser like Gaara, and her relationship with her Tailed Beast was much friendlier that her Sandy Comrade's.

" **I'm gonna take some time to talk with the kid as well."** Shukaku said as he gently took Gaara from Naruto's paw. **"There is some stuff we need to sort out. I've got to clean the air with the kid. When he wakes up, he'll know the truth… I'll leave the rest to you, Little Brother."**

Naruto nodded and released his grip on his sibling beasts' chakra, allowing them and their Jinchuriki to be sucked out of his Inner World and back into their own. Naruto's Inner World began to transform itself back into a complete forest; erasing the influence that Shukaku and Chomei had on his soul. Once his Inner World was completely corrected, he allowed himself to drift back to reality.

 **[The Forest of Death Central Tower]**

The Young Nine Tails awoke inside one of the rooms that had been prepared for passing Genin by the Examiners. It was a very simple dormitory-style room with three beds, a closet and a door leading to a bathroom. Naruto stretched happily as he sat up and noticed he was not alone. Gaara and Fu were unconscious on the other two beds and the members of Team 7, Team 8, Team 12 and the Sand Siblings were all standing around, waiting for the awakening of the Jinchurikis with varying levels of nervousness.

"Naruto-kun! Are you okay? You've been asleep for an hour." Hinata said, taking the blond's hand. She had been sat by his bedside the whole time.

"I'm okay. Chomei and I spent some time talking to Shukaku. He's promised to try and work with Gaara as a partner, and clear up the lies he's told." Naruto smiled, nodding to Kankuro and Temari.

"You were actually able to negotiate with the monster inside Gaara!?" Kankuro asked. The Leaf Ninja cringed at the Sand Ninja's poor choice of words, and Naruto felt a brief charge of anger, but he quickly released it. Getting angry at Kankuro for calling Shukaku a monster wouldn't help anything… its not like he knew any better.

"Shukaku isn't a monster." Naruto said calmly, "He's been hurt and abused, just like Gaara. He lashed out because of it. But now that we've talked, he should help us undo the insanity he caused in your little brother."

Kankuro looked to Temari, but his older sister wasn't any more confident in the situation than he was. Naruto definitely had an aura of confidence surrounding him, and it wasn't like Gaara could become much worse! "So we'll finally get our little brother back? If this works, then we'll owe you big time!" Kankuro said.

"Kankuro is right, but we can't let Naruto do all the work. Our Father is as responsible for Gaara's messed up actions as the One Tail is… we'll need to do something about him." Temari said, appearing to be deep in thought. Before Naruto or any of the others could question her, Fu woke up, stretching and smiling happily.

"Fu, you look happy. Did you have a good talk with Chomei?" Naruto asked.

The Mint-haired girl nodded vigorously, "Yeah! After Chomei saw Gaara's Sand powers and the Aburame Insects, she came up with some new moves and strategies for me! Once I've seen Gaara actually fight some more, I'll be able to turn my Particle Style into a real threat!" she said excitedly. The Leaf Ninja chuckled to themselves; Fu had been trying to improve her Particle Style ever since Anko pointed out that she was only able to use it for cover and distraction. The only time she'd done any damage with it was during the Collaboration Jutsu with Naruto against Kushimaru.

"No way… that girl really is a Jinchuriki? I thought you were bluffing before. How come you're so different?" Kankuro asked, rather tactlessly.

Fu just giggled, "Gaara and I were treated the same, but our beasts were different. Shukaku pressed Gaara into revenge and bloodshed, while Chomei just acted as a shoulder to cry on. Still, I was miserable until I came to the Leaf." she explained. Kankuro and Temari exchanged a look; if Gaara became even a little bit like Naruto and Fu and was able to work with his beast now… not only would their Father find enough value in him to let him live, but they would also get their precious little brother back!

Almost as soon as that thought crossed their minds, Gaara slowly opened his eyes and shakily sat up. Temari and Kankuro were surprised to see that he had begun to change a little already; it wasn't a massive change and was near unnoticeable to those that didn't know him as well as they did, but he seemed more relaxed and at ease. His skin was a bit less pale and his eyes were free of their usual bloodshot appearance. The rings around his eyes had thinned a little bit, and the entire way he moved was calmer and more energetic. He actually started to look a bit like a Twelve year old, as opposed to a monster in a child's body.

"G-Gaara, are you okay?" Temari asked cautiously.

"Temari… I am fine. I spoke with Shukaku for an entire day. I've learnt a lot." Gaara said, his voice still monotone but lacking the cold edge it once held.

"Wait, an entire day? You've only been out for an hour." Sasuke pointed out.

"When our consciousness is inside our soul, we can speed up or slow down our perception of time. Its a super hard mental exercise, but the Tailed Beasts are really good at it." Naruto explained, "You could spend a hundred years inside your head, and only a minute would pass in reality. But worry about that later; Gaara, how are you feeling." the Foxy Boy asked.

Gaara looked at his hands and clenched them, getting used to feeling a real body again after so much time (as he perceived it) outside of his flesh. "Shukaku explained everything. He told me off his lies...how he was never an incarnation or part of my mother… how he truly did use me for revenge. I understand now that my actions were wrong… but I do not know another way to live."

"Don't worry, Gaara. You aren't alone; I'll help you, and so will your siblings!" Naruto smiled, patting the boy's shoulder. Temari and Kankuro were a bit surprised that the sand from his nearby gourd didn't spring up to block the contact.

"Yes… I'm not alone." Gaara turned to his siblings, "I caused you both a lot of pain and fear. I am sorry… truly, I am sorry."

Temari couldn't stand it any more; she ran forward and embraced her little brother, happy tears flowing down her cheeks, "It's okay! We're still family, we'll always love you and forgive you when you make mistakes." she told him, gently stroking his hair. Seeing as the emotions in the room were starting to become stronger and more personal, most of the Leaf Ninja quietly excused themselves, leaving only the Sand Siblings, Naruto and Fu in the room.

"Hey, so long as you try and be a good little brother, I won't hold anything against you. You were fun as a little kid, back before… before Uncle Yashamaru died." Kankuro said, somewhat awkwardly rubbing his brother's head.

The mention of their Uncle caused Gaara to flinch a bit, but he recovered and spoke, tears beginning to slip down his face; "Shukaku also told me the truth… about our mother and uncle. He told me that my Mother loved me, and didn't hate the village… and he told me that Yashamaru lied when he said he hated me! Yashamaru really did love me, even as I...as I kill-"

"Gaara. That's enough. You reacted in self defence… even if our Uncle was forced to do what he did and never hated you, it would still have been justified to do what you did." Temari said, taking a stern tone she had never used on her youngest brother. "But, that does raise the question as to why Yashamaru truly did try to kill you."

Naruto and Fu looked puzzled at each other. "I don't know who Yashamaru is or what he did, but didn't you say your father didn't want to let him live before? If your father is the Kazekage, surely he could have ordered Yashamaru do to what he did." Naruto offered.

Temari and Kankuro scowled. They had long suspected, but a part of them had always kept them from acting on their suspicion; they didn't want to lose their only remaining family. But now Gaara had returned to them, and the two of them would do anything to keep him safe!

"Father can wait. For now, there is a more pressing matter." Gaara said, getting to his feet and approaching Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki… you were the one to see me as not a monster, but as a potential friend. You have my thanks, but there is still the Chunin Exams." he said.

Naruto's eyes widened as he locked gazes with the Red Haired Jinchuriki. Those sharp eyes, which had once been filled with cruelty and violence, now shone with determination and admiration. "You are strong, Naruto. You will go far in the Exam, and so will I. I want to face you, and fight you as a true equal. And win or lose… after this exam, I wish to exchange Sake with you."

The Nine Tails smirked and nodded. He was well aware of the old tradition of exchanging Sake making you brothers in spirit, if not in blood. The Uzumaki Boy had done it once before with Sasuke after they had become friends, and grew into brothers. "I'll be happy to, Gaara! All my siblings are older than me; it'll be nice to have a little brother!" Naruto grinned.

For the first time in years, Gaara smiled warmly and held out a hand in friendship. Naruto took it and in that moment, a friendship was forged that would last for eternity.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **AN:**

 **Well, this is the Beginning of Naruto and Gaara's growing friendship. I plan for them to have a brotherly relationship. Their development together will continue slowly through this arc and then will progress more over the coming arcs.**

 **Also, I did write a part of the talk between Shukaku and Gaara, but I decided to save it for later, where it might be more poignant.**

 **Next Chapter will reveal the other passing teams, and also what will be happening for the next part of the test.**


End file.
